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Foldershare 2

Kelvyn Taylor — 2004-11-02T17:40:26.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, PC Magazine, Tuesday 2 November 2004 at 17:40:26

A secure P2P file-sharing service

Foldershare 2 is a peer-to-peer service that lets you share files and folders on your PC with anyone connected to the Foldershare service. It's easy to use and offers industrial-strength security control.

You can adminstrate Foldershare either from the desktop client application or via the Foldershare website, but you can only add or remove files to or from libraries (Foldershare's name for shared folders) using the desktop application.

Each library's settings can be customised individually, including whether you want it to use automatic or manual replication.

You can choose whether individual users - added via email at your invitation - have reader, contributor, editor or senior editor access rights, and you can add and remove users or change their settings at will.

Files can also be accessed by logging in to the Foldershare site and clicking on the 'placeholder' file links. This will initiate a download from any available PCs on your peer network.

However, as the Foldershare service stores no data, at least one of your peer group's PCs must be running and able to accept incoming connections.

The user interface is straightforward and simple to use, although it's been changed radically from the beta version. Folder and member information is displayed in the left-hand pane, with files in the right-hand Explorer-like pane. Large icons at the top right guide you through creating a new shared folder, but remain as an annoying distraction once you've set up a folder.

Foldershare is also ideal for business users who need to share files between locations, but can't afford a virtual private network. Clients are authenticated using RSA key certificates before a connection is allowed and file transfers are made using 256bit AES encryption. Incoming ports are only opened for the duration of a transfer.

The only complicated aspect of Foldershare is the licensing model. It takes a while to get used to some of the concepts involved, although Foldershare does its best to explain the differences between the versions.

A personal monthly subscription ($4.50, approx £2.80) includes licences for two computers, which will let you synchronise up to 100 folders between the two, and you can invite an unlimited number of other users to share these. Up to two additional licences can be bought for $2.25 (£1.40) each.

There's a free trial edition, but you are limited to sharing two folders and 1,500 files. In the Professional version replication is speeded up by using compression and only sending the changes within files. The free and personal versions resend the whole file if it's changed.

The Professional version also supports up to 50,000 files in 250 folders, but a separate licence is required for each PC you install the product on.

You might have to tweak some firewall settings to allow incoming connections (the web-based help has a troubleshooting guide), but if you use a router with Universal Plug and Play support, Foldershare will try to configure it for you.

For sharing files with friends, family or work colleagues, this is the ideal solution

Pricing: Personal $4.50 per month (2 licences); Professional $6.75 per month per computer.

Contact: Bytetaxi 01512 477 9544

www.foldershare.com

Linux live and kicking - Part 2

Craig Paterson — 2004-09-24T09:44:02.000Z

Craig Paterson, PC Magazine, Friday 24 September 2004 at 09:44:02

We continue our look at live distributions of Linux that you can use to find out if open source is for you before taking the plunge

Knoppix 3.3

The best known (and perhaps most mature) of all live Linux distributions is Knoppix from Klaus Knopper.

Knoppix gained rapid attention when introduced because it actually worked. The theory of using read-only media and a Ramdisk to run Linux is easy enough to grasp, but Knoppix went a step further with powerful hardware detection and automatic configuration.

Knoppix stumbled on our test machine with the nForce motherboard chipset, but booted fine on other systems, dropping into the crisp Knoppix-themed KDE 3.1 desktop.

About 2GB of software is crammed into the 700MB Knoppix image, and decompressed on the fly as required. It's impressive and makes for a fully featured working environment. Everything from the boot loader to the desktop is cleanly presented.

The default desktop environment is KDE, and both KOffice and OpenOffice are included for office work, and Konqueror and Mozilla for web browsing. Other software ranges from the MySQL database platform, including server, and a digital planetarium.

Documentation for users and would-be customisers is strong, with a well developed user community. Knoppix's Debian roots show through with the omission of some packages considered 'non-free' by the Debian GNU/Linux project, but overall it's a coherent distribution. The hardware detection isn't head and shoulders above the alternatives, but anyone considering a live Linux setup should take Knoppix for test drive.

Gnoppix 0.6.0-rc2

Despite the similar names, Gnoppix and Knoppix aren't part of the same project, although they come from the same evolutionary tree. Like Knoppix, Gnoppix is based on the Woody build of Debian GNU/Linux, but instead of KDE uses Gnome (and only Gnome) as its desktop environment.

Booting into Gnoppix is fairly quick and the hardware detection does a fair but not impressive job; our display defaulted to only 1,024 by 768 and, although the Ethernet adaptor was ostensibly detected and configured correctly, Mozilla couldn't connect to the internet. The version under test is prerelease, but other distributions did a better job of setting up.

The Gnoppix desktop environment is Gnome 2.4. OpenOffice is the only office suite provided, with Evolution 1.4 as the default mail client and Mozilla as web browser. Utilities are provided for setting up a persistent home directory. In addition to the staple items there's a wide range of utility software from the Debian archives.

Gnoppix is a mixed bag. The features and included software are good, but the packaging is rough around the edges. Other live distributions are cleaner and provide more options for desktop environments, browsers and office suites. However, if you're a big fan of Gnome and aren't dependent on totally automatic configuration, Gnoppix may be for you.

Morphix 0.4.1

A Knoppix descendant, Morphix offers a smaller download and a modular selection of applications. Variants are offered featuring Gnome, KDE or a Light option. The big selling point of Morphix is the ease with which you can roll your own setup. The user community is active and, in addition to documentation on how to customise your setup, the Morphix site includes links to many different specialist builds.

The Light GUI variant boots the quickest, although its startup is still slow compared with a stripped-down hard disk installation. The interface is a clean desktop with a launcher bar across the bottom of the screen.

Morphix KDE ships KDE 3.1 as its desktop environment and the KOffice suite. Morphix Gnome, on the other hand, goes for Gnome and OpenOffice. Otherwise the setup on each is similar, although the desktops themselves are distinct.

For gamers, the Morphix Gamer setup offers a neat out-of-box solution, with the lightweight IceWM desktop handling X-Windows duty, and a slew of games installed a couple of clicks away in the menu.

The documentation for Morphix makes it clear that the whole project is a work in progress, and shouldn't be considered a finished product. It is, though, under active development and we found it was well enough advanced for the enthusiast crowd, and nearly ready for prime time.

MandrakeMove

Originally the Mandrake distribution was Red Hat Linux compiled with optimisations for newer processors. It's since grown into a separate product and is now much more than just a souped-up clone of Red Hat, with MandrakeMove as the live variant.

MandrakeMove is available directly from MandrakeSoft. While it can be downloaded for free, users are asked to join the Mandrake Club or to go on to purchase a boxed copy. The boxed edition of Move is bundled at different price points with USB keys of varying sizes.

MandrakeMove boots directly into KDE 3.1. On our test systems the display auto configuration left us with a disappointingly low refresh rate. In a fashion similar to Linspire Live, the MandrakeMove desktop and menus are organised neatly along functional lines, rather than as a jumble of programs familiar only to experienced users. The office functions sit on top of Open Office 1.1, and the browser of choice is Konqueror.

System configuration is based on Mandrake's own Drak tool, which has a clunky interface in places but isn't unfriendly.

Overall, MandrakeMove is a quality distribution. While the hardware configuration could be stronger, the desktop environment is slick and compares well with Linspire Live.

SuSE Live

The live version of SuSE is specifically intended as a demonstration version of its regular counterpart. Accordingly, no customisation is available, and there are other ups and downs to this approach for the casual user.

First, SuSE Live takes a long time to boot. On boot the standard SuSE installer - YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) - kicks off to detect and configure hardware. While YaST does a superb job of setting up hardware, it takes a long time to do it, and the system proper does not boot up until YaST has completed its process.

These steps in the boot process itself (such as generating an SSH host key set) would normally be one-time operations for a hard disk install, but with a read-only system these are of course every-time operations.

Once the system has booted, though, things take a distinct turn for the better. A clean and well presented KDE 3.1 desktop has icons on the desktop for KDE's Konqueror browser and the Open Office suite. A well laid out menu and quick launch buttons in the KDE taskbar round out the polished feel.

The time waiting for YaST to complete is worth it; on our test system the resolution had automatically been set to a useable 1,280 by 1,024 with a refresh rate of 100Hz, and the network interface was properly determined and configured with DHCP. Mozilla is installed as well as Konqueror for those who prefer a different web browser.

SuSE Live hits its target market very well. It's not for the tweaker, and it takes a long time to boot. But it is polished, does a great job of detecting hardware and bundles a sensible suite of applications.

Mepis Linux beta 2

Until now Mepis has been a relatively unknown brand in the Linux world. As with many other distributions the standard offering is for a hard-disk based install, and the live version is a sideline. As sidelines go, though, this one has some interesting features.

On boot Mepis offers a GRUB-based menu of choices. Power users will appreciate the choices on offer, with different screen resolutions and different kernel versions. Once you choose an option the system starts up almost like a normal Linux box.

There's no pretty logo screen with progress bar, instead you can see the auto-detection routines doing their thing and subsystems initialising. This isn't as clean as some competitors, such as Knoppix (and its derivatives) or SuSE, but it works and is fine given the beta status of the release.

On our testbed Mepis had no trouble booting into a 1,280 by 1,024 KDE 3.1 desktop running on top of a 2.6.4 kernel. Both KOffice and OpenOffice are installed, as are Konqueror and Mozilla for web browsing.

Several Mepis custom utilities are provided for system management, including a hard disk installer that proved to be quick and flawless, installing a multiple kernel setup in just a few minutes.

The boot messages, look of the interface and overall packaging of Mepis aren't (yet) on a par with the better established or bigger name live distributions. But the feature set is good, and the distribution is up to date. For power users Mepis is already a good place to start, and it's getting better quickly.

Linspire Live

Formerly known as Lindows - the name was recently changed to avoid trademark issues - Linspire is targeted at the novice Linux user. Its live version is marketed mostly as a demonstration edition, but contains most of the functionality of the regular Linspire.

Getting Linspire direct from the manufacturer costs $30 (£17), but it can be downloaded from P2P services such as Kazaa and Bitorrent for free. This is permitted by Linspire because it saves the company the cost of supporting arbitrary numbers of huge ISO image downloads.

Right from boot Linspire (still branded 'Lindows') presents a clean interface that won't scare a novice user with in-depth descriptions of the boot sequence. Boot time is reasonable and once complete the user is dumped into a KDE-based desktop.

Unlike most other distributions the underpinnings aren't displayed up front. From the desktop itself through to the menus and the Internet Suite, everything is neatly branded as Lindows, which gives the environment a coherent feel.

The browser and mail client are both from Mozilla, and the (not rebranded) office suite is OpenOffice. Additional software is sparse but reasonable, and adequate for an office desktop.

Linspire Live is a cleanly presented distribution that shouldn't scare users new to Linux. It's not the most flexible or the most comprehensive option, but it's simple to use and covers the basics well.

LNX-BBC 2.1

LNX-BBC is a svelte distribution, at 50MB for the ISO image. The idea is that it will fit on a business-card sized CD-R so it can be conveniently carried around in a wallet. It's a similar idea to the Sysadmin Survival CD that Red Hat used to provide as part of its boxed Linux product. And, in a novel twist, if you join the Free Software Foundation your membership card will be a bootable CD containing LNX-BBC.

The space constraint of a 50MB image means that LNX-BBC has fewer features than the larger distributions. It's not intended as a drop-in replacement for a regular desktop Linux install but as a rescue CD for booting and inspecting systems.

Even here, though, LNX-BBC is conservative; the hard drives will be mounted read-only and you have to mount them manually to read/write to perform modifications. It's possible to roll your own variant of LNX-BBC using the GAR packaging system.

The current version of LNX-BBC is a little behind the curve, having been released in May 2003. That's not to say that this isn't a useful distribution, though. Plenty of tools are included for inspection and recovery of misbehaving systems, and the network facilities include SSH and Bitorrent clients.

LNX-BBC doesn't compete with the heavyweight distributions, but nor is it intended to do so. As a system recovery CD that fits in your wallet it can be forgotten about until you need it, and then it'll be a blessing.

Feather Linux 0.4.0

Continuing the 'small is beautiful' theme, Feather Linux demands just under 64MB. While it can be run from a CD, Feather is intended to run directly from a USB key drive. Unlike its big brother, Knoppix, you can run Feather from a USB key that doesn't cost almost as much as your PC.

Two variants are available: the standard Feather Linux and the Feather Linux Console Edition. The standard Feather aims to provide a small but useable desktop environment, including a surprisingly elegant and full featured window manager.

Space constraints mean that no office suite is included, but Feather does include music playback, administrative and network tools as part of the distribution, and tools to download additional software on a per-session basis.

The Console Edition is targeted at system administrators and is smaller still, requiring almost exactly 50MB. Very much along the same lines as LNX-BBC, the toolset is shaped towards diagnosing and repairing faulty Linux systems.

For most users Feather will be a compromise too far in terms of functionality. But for on-the-run system administrators Feather offers a neat and compact graphical environment along with a useful amount of power.

Conclusion

If you're new to Linux and considering a live distribution as an introduction without commitment, a handful of options stand out. Unsurprisingly it's the bigger distributions that offer the fewest surprises: SuSE Live, MandrakeMove and Linspire Live offer the friendliest interfaces as well as a good mix of tools.

SuSE Live is the most impressive introduction, with only its slow boot time counting against it, but with excellent hardware detection and configuration, and a good desktop.
Linspire Live goes far enough in branding that, in keeping with its Lindows heritage, it almost doesn't seem like Linux.
Mepis is a promising distribution that doesn't quite yet match the established players for polish, but is advanced with its 2.6 kernel option.
Mandrake doesn't match the SuSE hardware detection, but does have a polished desktop and applications bundle, and the option of a persistent home directory.

For the Linux enthusiast experimenting with live distributions the choice is a little different.

The polish of SuSE Live won't compensate for its demonstration-focus and slow load time.
The cosseted environment of Lindows isn't always the most comfortable for the long-time Linux user.
MandrakeMove is the only big-name distribution that matches the polish of a solid desktop environment and application mix with the convenience of persistent home directory.

But for tinkerers there's a lot more fun to be had with the custom distributions.

Knoppix shows its form as the longest-standing live distribution with wide-ranging documentation and a comprehensive set of included packages, packed into the 700MB of an 80-minute CD-R.
Gnoppix isn't quite as comprehensive, but is the just the thing for big fans of Gnome (KDE is the prevalent default environment across live distributions).
And perhaps most interesting of all is Morphix, with its modular system for building customised distributions including only what you need, all on top of a customised Knoppix.

SwyxWare 4.30

Alex Arias — 2004-08-26T11:36:17.000Z

Alex Arias, PC Magazine, Thursday 26 August 2004 at 11:36:17

VoIP offers potential for cost savings.

VoIP (Voice over Internet) is finally becoming an attractive option for smaller businesses and educational establishments. Swyx is a well established VoIP telephony company and the latest update to its SwyxWare platform adds to its attraction.

SwyxWare 4.30 is an IP telephony solution for internal and external communication that should interest any size of company looking for cost savings. It's a software-based IP PBX (private branch exchange) that also performs traditional PBX tasks and integrates with email applications.

The update incorporates a few tweaks that improve support for phones and add more administrative functions. A noticeable visual difference is the change from the traditional Blueline skin to LoonaClassic as the default for SwyxIT, the user interface.

There have been improvements to this UI, with additional hotkeys, wizards to aid recordings and support for Internet Explorer.

One of SwyxWare's strengths is its integration with Microsoft Outlook - it can for example redirect calls based on your calendar entries. Other features include caller ID and call divert functions. The system is managed through the standard Microsoft Management Console.

Swyx offers a range of phones, headsets and handsets, including the new top end SwyxPhone L440 with a larger integrated LCD panel.

Swyx's IP based software and hardware has a lot to offer and is well worth a look. However, it's a Windows-only system and many smaller companies might find that exploiting the full functionality takes some time.

Contact: SwyxWare

www.swyx.co.uk

Specifications:

OS support - server Windows Server 2000 and above
OS support - client Windows 98 and above
QoS Support G.165, RSVP and 802.1p
Voice encoding G.711

Price:

10-user licence - £1,200

four-channel ISDN gateway - £712

Swyx IP phone L420 - £429

(all ex VAT)

ON4

Kelvyn Taylor — 2004-08-20T11:04:00.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor, PC Magazine, Friday 20 August 2004 at 11:04:00

Get instant communications with this telephony services.

On4 is the latest voice over IP (VoIP) service from a new company called On Instant. If you've heard of Skype, you'll be familiar with the idea - using secure peer-to-peer Internet connections to talk (or send voicemail or text messages) to other On4 users.

The free download is only about 6MB, so it's not too onerous to try it out, and registration requires only basic personal details.

After installing and logging on you see the main On4 screen, which is uncluttered and self-explanatory. You can search for contacts worldwide, or invite friends to join by email.

The privacy level can be set so that only contacts in your address book can call you, but if you're feeling adventurous you can let any On4 user get in touch.

Audio setup is poorly implemented at the moment - there's no built-in audio wizard and no online help - but On Instant told us that it's rectifying this side of things.

On4 works with any microphone/speaker setup or USB handset, but we had to fiddle about with Windows' audio settings to get our USB handset to co-exist with our PC's speakers. A human operator is always on hand to help you get started.

Voice quality is superb, with little discernible lag and none of the cracks and pops usually associated with VoIP traffic.

On4 is really an interim release - version 2 is imminent, with a totally revised client and extra services such as conference calling and, eventually, the ability to call landlines or mobile phones.

It?s free, so give it a try and see what you think. Business users should take a look at On Instant, a paid-for service based on the same technology.

Contact:On Instant (01534) 746533

www.on4.com

Specifications:

OS support Windows 2000/XP Home/Pro.
Minimum memory required 128MB
Hard disk space 5MB
Other requirements DirectX 8 or later; sound card; headset, speakers/microphone or USB hand/headset

Price:

Free download.

Transferring data to a new PC - Part 1

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt — 2004-03-25T09:38:55.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt, PC Magazine, Thursday 25 March 2004 at 09:38:55

Buying a new PC is great fun, but transferring your data and settings from your old PC can be a nightmare. We show you how to take your working environment with you.

At some point during your computing experiences you'll find that most programs just crawl and the latest graphics applications and office suites won't even install.

There's no choice but to get a new PC. The change from the old to the new computer can be a quick process, and usually begins with the installation of the current version of Windows on the new machine, if it was not pre-installed.

Many users transfer their personal documents by simply copying the contents of the My Documents folder - including all sub-folders - to the relevant folder on the new system using a network connection or a CD-R. After installing your applications, the changeover is virtually finished. Apparently.

But if you use this simple method of moving the system, you'll lose your personal working environment, consisting of innumerable Registry and Windows-GUI settings. Among the items affected are desktop properties such as the wallpaper, personalised icons, and sound and colour schemes.

Usability features, including your preferred double-click speed, keyboard shortcuts for quickly opening applications and the contents of the Start Menu and Task Bar will simply vanish.

Internet and email specific settings will go missing too, including Outlook Express account settings, cookies and Favorites, Internet Explorer security settings and all network connections.

In this expert guide, we'll show you how to do a professional relocation job.

Making the move

If you take a simple copy-and-paste approach to configuring your new system, you don't lose just easily reconfigured settings. Important data for which there might not be a replacement also vanishes.

For example, the Windows Address Book and its contents are left behind, along with Outlook Express messages and Newsgroup postings.

Microsoft Office users lose not only document templates, which take a lot of work to customise, but the macros and tool bars saved in those templates. In addition, you'll have discarded your customised spelling dictionaries.

The worst thing for most Office users is the loss of the contact addresses, emails and appointments managed by Outlook.

The main problem with these settings and data is that, in contrast to personal documents, they are not stored in a single place, but strewn all over the system as countless files and Registry entries.

It's not possible to use standard backup programs, as they don't know the exact storage and restoration locations, which vary from one version of Windows to another.

If you want to transfer this configuration data as painlessly as possible, you'll need to use one of the special migration tools discussed below, where we'll introduce the most important freeware and commercial products for this task.

However, if you're not afraid of a little manual work, and don't need to migrate whole applications, you can transfer the most important settings without third-party programs using built-in components only.

In this feature we describe where the data is stored what you need to know to move it.

Using Windows tools

The most important settings and data can be transferred to the new computer using built-in tools. Often, they can be simply copied using Windows Explorer. A Wizard in Windows XP makes the process particularly easy.

The most important tool in terms of transferring the working environment is the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. But the task is so big that you also have to save some settings and files manually.

However, this useful tool is only available when changing to Windows XP. Further steps, described in detail below, are necessary when migrating to or from other versions of Windows.

Some of the folders referred to are hidden system folders, which will have to be made visible before you can access them. To do this, open Windows Explorer, choose Tools/Folder Options/View and enable the 'Show hidden files and folders' option.

Automated saving

Windows XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard saves Windows settings in these categories:

Appearance: Primarily desktop settings, including wallpaper, colour schemes, sounds and the position and appearance of the Task Bar.
Actions: Settings such as the keyboard repeat rate or behaviour when double-clicking on Windows folders and files.
Internet: How the connection to the internet is made and Internet Explorer settings, including Favorites (bookmarks), cookies, security settings, network connections and proxy settings.
Email: information and settings needed to connect with your email server, including signature files, email rules, email and contact addresses. Outlook and Outlook Express are supported.

The Wizard also helps to migrate certain applications. In the main, these are Microsoft's own programs, such as applications from the Office suite or Microsoft Messenger. However, some widely used applications from other manufacturers are supported, including WinZip and Acrobat Reader.

Note that the Wizard only saves the applications' settings and not the programs themselves. The applications should be installed on the target computer before running the Wizard.

In addition the Wizard can transfer files and complete folders. This enables you, for example, to move all document files of a particular type from one computer to another. Documents are selected according to the file type.

Alternatively, you can simply let the Wizard migrate the entire contents of the My Documents folder, including sub-folders. This makes using a separate backup program unnecessary.

This generates much more data than will fit on a USB key or other removable media. The only alternative is to transfer the files/folders via a direct connection or over a network. If you do this, the (network) drive selected as the target must be accessible to both PCs and have enough free space.

Note that for security reasons, the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard does not transfer any passwords, such as those used for network connections. You'll have to enter them again on the target PC.

How Windows XP moves

The first thing the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard does is to collect the required data from the source computer. If you're upgrading from an older version of Windows, you can run the Wizard straight from the Windows XP CD.

To do this, select the Additional Tasks option from the Setup window and then click on Transfer files and settings. If the autoplay feature is turned off, then the Setup window can be opened by running SETUP.EXE on the Windows XP CD.

Using the Wizard is uncomplicated and largely self-explanatory. After clicking on Next, specify the transfer method to use. As long as both computers are networked, it is recommended to use a shared network folder whose path is specified with the Other Media option.

The only other choices are a slow direct connection via a serial cable or by using removable media, but using a floppy disk will only allow you to save settings. If you want to transfer more files, then each computer must, as a minimum, have a Zip drive. The Wizard does not support saving to a CD.

The next step is to specify the items to transfer. You can choose whether to transfer just settings, just files or both files and settings.

To change the default selection according to your own preferences, enable the Choose own settings check box and click on Next. In the next step you can add your own items to or remove items from the list.

Following this, the Wizard begins to collect the selected items, which it usually saves in a single compressed file on the selected target drive or network folder.

Transferring the saved files to the target computer also begins with the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. It can be started from the Windows XP Start Menu by selecting Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

After viewing the introduction, set the computer as the New Computer and then select the 'I don't need the Wizard disk' option. Next, specify the place where the collected items are stored. Click on Next, and the Wizard begins the transfer. Finally, restart Windows to activate the changes.

Moving desktop contents

The Wizard saves secondary desktop settings such as wallpaper and designs. However, it ignores icons and links stored on the desktop.

A workaround for this is based on the fact that the desktop contents - apart from the Recycle Bin and other system icons - are stored as files in two folders.

One holds the current user's personal contents. In Windows XP/2000 it uses the path C:\ Documents and Settings\[Username]\Desktop. Content applicable to all users can be found in C:\ Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop.

In Windows 95 to Me, the folder C:\Windows\Desktop holds all desktop content, as long as no user profiles are in use. Transferring all icons and links can easily be done by hand using Windows Explorer: first copy the folder's contents to backup media, and from there into the relevant folder on the target computer.

Saving the Classic Start Menu

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard duplicates the standard Windows XP Start Menu, but does not transfer the Classic Start Menu, which displays all programs after one click.

However, its contents, which are almost all files, can be copied manually to another computer using Windows Explorer.

To do this, Windows XP/2000 users have to copy the contents of C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu as well as C:\Documents and Settings \[Username]\Start Menu (personal Start Menu contents) to the target PC.

In Windows 95 to Me, the Start Menu contents can be found in the C:\Windows\Start Menu folder. Windows also stores the content of the classic Start Menu in the file system. A simple copying action will transfer it.

Windows address book

The Windows address book (personal address book) is a small database tool for addresses, virtually unchanged in form since Windows 95. Although it can be opened on its own from the Accessories menu, its main use is to store email addresses for Outlook Express.

To transfer the address book contents manually, simply copy the tool's data file from source PC to target PC. This will be a WAB file whose file name corresponds to the current user's username.

As the address book is stored in different places in different versions of Windows, the information about the file location can be viewed by choosing Help/About Address Book.

Outlook Express contents

Outlook Express saves its data in a directory which you can check by choosing Tools/Options/Maintenance/Store Folder from the main menu. These files are mostly DBX files that contain both the folder structure and the contents of the individual mail and newsgroup folders.

For the purposes of transferring the entire message-base, you should copy the whole content of the storage folder on the source computer to the corresponding folder on the target PC.

It's also possible to transfer individual mail folders (copy the DBX files that represent them), as long as these are standard folders such as Inbox or Drafts. User-defined mail and newsgroup folders have to be included in the FOLDERS.DBX file and it's not possible to transfer them individually.

Cookies and Web Favorites

Windows also stores internet Favorites in the form of files, which can be found in the folders C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Favorites (personal Favorites) and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites (all users' Favorites) if using Windows 2000 or XP.

In earlier versions of Windows without user profiles there is just a single folder for storing Favorites, called C:\Windows\Favorites.

To transfer the Favorites, copy the contents of these folders to the corresponding folder on the target PC. The same goes for cookies (if you want to), which, under Windows 2000 and XP, are stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Cookies folder.

Transferring data to a new PC - Part 2

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt — 2004-03-25T09:37:58.000Z

Kelvyn Taylor and Richard Hunt, PC Magazine, Thursday 25 March 2004 at 09:37:58

In part two of our feature on transferring your data and settings to a new PC we look at network connections, Outlook accounts, and some professional tools which may help.

Network connections

To transfer all network connections from one Windows 2000/XP system to another, you need to copy just one file. This is called RASPHONE.PBK and is stored in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk.

A word of warning: copying this file to the directory with the same name on the target computer will overwrite all existing network connections. To activate the new network connections, it's necessary to restart Windows.

As RASPHONE.PBK does not, for security reasons, hold any user names or passwords they will have to be entered again.

Under Windows 95 to Me, transferring network connections is even easier: just drag the icon for each connection to be transferred from the Network Connections window to the desktop.

Windows generates a DUN file for each icon, and these can be copied to backup media and dragged from there into the Network Connections window on the target PC, which must also be running Windows 95/98 or Me.

Passwords and usernames also go missing using this method and will have to be re-entered.

With versions of Windows up to Me, network connections can be dragged to the desktop and copied from there to the target system.

Saving Office Shortcut Bars

The Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint (from version 2000) components of Office save modified or new Shortcut Bars in their respective working areas, which are physically located in the files EXCEL.XLB, OUTCMD.DAT (Outlook) and PPT.PCB (PowerPoint).

You can transfer your own Shortcut Bar configuration to another computer running Office just by copying these files. To do this, you need to know the correct destination folders, which vary according to the version of Windows in use and the existence of user profiles.

As the applications themselves give no clues as to the files' locations, the best way to find them is to use Windows' own search function. Word, however, stores its tool bars in the global document template NORMAL.DOT. The next tip describes how to save this file.

Templates and dictionaries

Document templates allow laboriously worked out content and design elements to be transferred easily and quickly to new Word documents and Excel worksheets.

This useful feature can be quickly transferred by copying the contents of the User Templates folder from the source computer to the target computer.

The location of the files can be found in Word by selecting Tools/Options and the File Locations tab. If you have customised correction dictionaries in Office, then note the path for where they are stored and transfer them to the target PC.

Taking Outlook data along

Unlike its little brother, Outlook Express, Outlook keeps all its data - emails, appointments, contact addresses - in a single file, the personal folder file.

This file is called OUTLOOK.PST and can be found (under Windows 2000 and XP) in the C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. In earlier versions of Windows, the path is C:\ Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

If the same user name and version of Outlook are in use on both computers, the data can be transferred by copying the PST file to the corresponding directory on the target PC.

If this isn't the case, you'll have to use Outlook's File/Import/Export function to export the data from the source PC and import it into the new system. Choose the option to import data from Outlook (.PST files) and then locate the PST file to import using the Browse button.

Outlook account settings

The Outlook personal folder file contains almost all of the personal information manager's data, apart from the account settings. These have to be specifically exported then re-imported. However, this only works up to Outlook 2000.

To export, choose Tools/Accounts and pick the Email tab. Select each account in turn and save it as an internet account file (.IAF) to backup media using the Export button.

To transfer the saved files to the target system, use the import button in the same dialog as the one from which you saved the settings.

You can use a trick to transfer files to Outlook XP and 2003: firstly, import the .IAF files to Outlook Express using Tools/Accounts/Email/Import and then transfer those settings to Outlook.

Choose Outlook's own File/Import/Export command from the menus, activate the Internet Mail Account settings option and select Microsoft Outlook Express as the import source.

Office settings

With the Save My Settings Wizard (in the Microsoft Office Tools Start Menu section), Office XP and 2003 users have an easy method of transferring all their Office settings from one computer to another at one go.

The Wizard creates a snapshot of the Registry settings and dependent files for the current Office user configuration and writes this data to a profile settings file with the extension .OPS.

Transferring the settings to the target computer is carried out by reading the OPS file with the help of the Save My Settings Wizard, choosing the 'Restore previously saved settings to this machine' option.

In contrast to its Windows counterpart, the Office Wizard is restricted to settings only. You have to transfer application data - for example document templates or Outlook personal folder files - yourself.

Software tools

Transferring settings and configuration data with the built-in tools means a lot of searching. Using specialist freeware, shareware or commercial software makes the job easier and offers more flexibility.

In order to save your settings and configuration data you will have to carry out at least some procedures by hand, according to the version of Windows you are using. Using special freeware or commercial software, on the other hand, often requires just a few mouse clicks.

In addition to this, some programs allow you to transfer whole applications without having to do a completely fresh installation.

Microsoft's User State Migration tool

The User State Migration Tool (USMT) is a free utility produced by Microsoft that supports migration to Windows 2000 and XP.

Although it is a command-line utility without a graphical user interface, the USMT offers the same functionality as XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

However, the USMT is aimed exclusively at administrators who want to transfer certain settings to multiple network computers as quickly as possible. The utility can only be run from a client PC that is linked to a domain controller on a Windows Server network.

The USMT can be downloaded from microsoft.com here. Windows XP users can find the program in the ValueAdd folder of their Windows installation CD.

Transfer MyPC

Transfer MyPC is a program for migrating configuration data. In contrast to the Windows XP Files and settings Wizard, it doesn't just support the change to XP, but to any version of Windows later than Windows 95 (OSR 2).

It also transfers playlists, image and media files, and Office templates as well as configuration data from non-Microsoft applications.

The program offers an uncluttered user interface (Figure 7) within which individual settings can be turned on and off. File transfer can only be carried out using a direct cable connection between the old and new PCs.

The cable is included, and the package costs £40 for a single migration licence. Additional migration licences cost £13.30 each.

Contact: www.orlogix.com

PC Relocator Professional 4.6

PC Relocator Pro is one of the few migration utilities that will transfer complete applications as well as Windows settings and configuration data from the old to the new PC.

Transfer can be carried out using a network, direct cable connection (USB, parallel or network crossover cable) or removable media. At £546, it's aimed primarily at professional network administrators.

However, in our tests, it did not migrate a complete Office 2003 installation correctly between two identical Windows XP systems. Even after contact with the manufacturer, the Office applications wouldn't run on the target system.

However, less complex applications, including Photo Impact, Quicktime and Power DVD, transferred smoothly.

Contact: www.eisenworld.com

StepUp 2.03

The shareware program StepUp transfers Windows settings and configuration files from certain programs. After registering (£16) it can also transfer entire applications, which in many cases makes time-consuming new installations unnecessary.

However, it does not support nearly as many programs as PC Relocator. Migration can be from any version of Windows later than 95 but only to Windows 2000 and XP. Data transfer is via a network or direct cable connection (USB, parallel, crossover) only.

Contact: www.cellarstone.com/stepup.htm

ABF Outlook Backup 2.1

ABF Outlook Backup is one of many tools that can be used to save Microsoft Outlook (all versions) settings and files and recreate them on the same, or another, PC.

As well as the complete contents of the personal folder file OUTLOOK.PST, the tool saves the complete configuration data, templates, scripts and more. Registration costs £16.

Contact: www.abf-soft.com

CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12

Cliff Joseph — 2004-03-23T11:44:30.000Z

Cliff Joseph, PC Magazine, Tuesday 23 March 2004 at 11:44:30

Straighter lines and smoother curves.

This is one of those upgrades that will either grab you straight away or leave you wondering what all the fuss is about.

Like its predecessors, the CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 is a collection of graphics software that contains three main applications: the veteran CorelDraw for vector graphics work, Photo-Paint for photo-editing and the often overlooked Rave, which is good for creating web animations.

All three programs have been upgraded, yet the list of new features is surprisingly brief. That's because the main new feature - the Smart Drawing tool - is designed to introduce a new way of working, rather than padding out a list of features.

Instead of simply recording your brush strokes on screen, the Smart Drawing tool has a degree of intelligence built in, which allows it to recognise the shapes you're drawing and convert them automatically into smooth curves and straight lines in order to create a more polished appearance.

You could use the program's existing freehand tools, of course, but creating freehand drawings on a computer screen is always tricky. Drawing accurately with a mouse is difficult and even with a good graphics tablet it takes only a slight shake of the hand to cause a glaring error.

The new Smart Drawing tool helps to eliminate these errors and enables even amateur artists to create smoothly finished vector artwork. There's also an option to adjust the smoothing level, so you can turn the smoothing right down to give your artwork a rough, hand-drawn appearance.

The Smart Drawing tool works pretty well, although you'll probably get better results from it with a graphics tablet. Your appreciation of this tool will also depend on whether you create a lot of hand-drawn artwork.

To assist in creating more technical drawings, CorelDraw 12 boasts improved snapping controls and 'dynamic guides' that can be customised to work the way you want. Also new is the impressive Eyedropper that, as well as sampling the colours by clicking, can copy object attributes, such as stroke and fill, or even the degree of rotation.

All these new features are also found in Rave, the suite's animation program, which is easy to use and can export Flash animations. It makes it a great alternative to Flash for anyone who isn't a professional web developer.

That leaves Photo-Paint, which unfortunately draws the short straw in this upgrade. Its only major new feature is the Touch-up brush. This works well enough, but by itself it makes for a pretty disappointing upgrade.

The other disappointing detail is the cost. Corel has translated the US upgrade price from $179 to £179 ex. VAT. But, to be fair, the full price of the complete Graphics Suite is still less than a single copy of Adobe Photoshop, so it's a good choice for a business user or technical illustrator looking for a good all-round collection of graphics tools.

Contact: Corel (01628) 589800

www.corel.co.uk

System requirements:

CPU Pentium II
Memory 256MB
Disk space 256MB
Operating system Windows 2000/XP

Map and Travel Route Planner 2004

Nigel Whitfield — 2004-03-08T12:22:23.000Z

Nigel Whitfield, PC Magazine, Monday 8 March 2004 at 12:22:23

How to zoom from A to Z in Great Britain and Europe.

Route Planner 2004 Great Britain and Europe is one of an increasing number of packages designed to help you find your way around. It includes detailed maps of European cities, giving the locations of sights, arts venues, hotels, petrol stations and so forth, along with the usual route planning.

Installation is straightforward, but it needs 2GB of disk space and the last stage of the setup took so long we thought it had died.

That minor glitch aside, it's simple to use. The main screen shows a map of Europe and there's a pane on the left where you can type in a postcode or town name. Place and street names can be selected from a pop-up box.

For the UK, this works fine; it worked well with addresses in the Amsterdam suburbs, too. But an address in Antwerp couldn't be found, since there was not enough detail for that city. And in Dublin, although the street we wanted was shown on the map, it couldn't be entered as a destination.

Curious. It suggests that if you require routes that take you off the beaten track in smaller cities, you may not get door-todoor with this product.

And, in common with many other packages, including Autoroute 2002, it suggested a road on our test route that has been closed for 20 years.

Once the information is found, creating routes is swift, and the map details include house numbers at junctions. A few clicks on the icons at the right of the screen add hotels, hospitals, zoos, casinos and other points of interest.

The Hotels tab produces information on places to stay within a selected distance of a location, including the information from the Varta guide and online booking for some UK hotels.

There's another useful touch in the settings screen - enter fuel consumption details and the route automatically includes a reminder to refuel; you can also include rest periods.

For the UK, there's live traffic information, which can be updated over the Internet and taken into account when route planning. Unfortunately the information doesn't extend to the rest of Europe, which is arguably where you may find it more useful, especially if you find it difficult to understand foreign radio bulletins.

The software integrates with GPS (global positioning system); for those who don't have this, maps and directions can be exported to Palm or Pocket PC handhelds. A viewer application is included, but in the Palm version we tested, it's not that exciting - the map isn't scaleable, the directions are just a text list, and the buttons in the application are in German. Still, it's a nice thought.

There's a good range of options for printing out routes. The standard printout includes a clear overview and a large map of the destination, along with step-by-step maps for each turn, and there are options for more detailed lists, or a simple overview.

There is one irritation, though, in that the direction information, both on screen and in the printout, often seems to relate to the next major town - not to what the road signs say. For instance, when driving through Hackney towards the Channel Tunnel, you're unlikely to see any signs for Sidcup.

Ultimately, it's the accumulation of some sloppy points that count against Route Planner 2004; individually, none is a show-stopper, but they combine to mar what would otherwise be a really useful piece of software.

Contact: Media Gold 020 7221 4600

www.dabs.com

System requirements:

OS Windows 98 or higher
CPU Pentium processor
Memory 64MB
Disk space 2GB