Make Tech Easier » Damien

The Safe Way to Change your WordPress Database Table Prefix

Damien — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:08 +0000

Unless you have make an attempt to change the table prefix before installing your WordPress blog, chances are that your WP database is still using the default ‘wp_’ as the table prefix. With this default prefix, hackers can easily perform a SQL injection attacks on your database and wreak havoc to your site. The best way to prevent this from happening is to change the table prefix to another term that is difficult for hackers to guess.

If you are new to blogging and are looking to install your first WordPress blog, then it is easy. Simply change the $table_prefix entry in wp-config.php file, upload the file to the server, then proceed on with the famous 5-mins installation.

For those who have already been blogging for sometime, follow the method below to change your table prefix.

Preparation

Download the following two plugins, install and activate them in your WordPress blog.

WP-DBManager (plugin download page)

Wordpress Table Rename (modified version, original download page)

Note: I have make a slight modification to the WordPress Table Rename plugin to include changes in the later version of WordPress, but credit must be given to SEO Egghead for creating such an useful plugin.

Get started

Before you do anything to your database, first perform a db backup.

On the left pane, go to Database –> Backup DB. Do a backup of your database.

Next, go to Settings –> Table Rename

Enter a new term for the table prefix.

Click the Create New Tables button to generate new tables with the new prefix. If you have a big database, this process will take a long time.

When it is done, you will see the success message.

If you have a big database, the page might issue a timeout and show a blank page.

Verify your new database tables

Now go to Database->database. You should see the new tables in place.

Migrating your blog

While the plugin provides a way to change the table_prefix value in wp-config.php file, it won’t work in most cases unless you have set the wp-config.php file readable/writable (which I strongly advised against). The best way is to change the value manually.

With your favorite FTP program, download your wp-config.php from the root server.

Open it up with any text editor and scroll down to the section where you see

$table_prefix = 'wp_'

Change it to

$table_prefix = 'YourNewPrefix_'

Save it and re-upload this file back to the server.

Almost there

You have just completed the migration from the old table prefix to new table prefix, there are still several things that you need to do

1. Browse through your site and make sure all the pages, images and content are loading correctly. If you see errors, or that the site is not loading, change the $table_prefix back to ‘wp_‘ and re-upload back to the server.

2. Browse through the settings for each individual plugin and make sure that all the configurations are intact. Some of the plugins use the table prefix for their storage and these values were not changed by the plugin. For such plugins, you will see the settings fall back to their default values. What you have to do is to reconfigure it and re-save it. It will now store in the database with the new table prefix.

3. (Optional) Go to the Database –> Empty/Drop Tables, check the Drop button for all the table with the old prefix. Click the Empty/Drop button to remove them from your database.

Important: Do this only if you are sure that the new tables (with the new prefix) are working correctly.

Note that this is purely optional. Leaving your old table in the database will not hurt your blog and it can serve as a backup and allow you to switch back to them quickly in the event your blog got hacked into. However, if you have a big database, the extra tables could add plenty of overhead to your server. So, make your own judgement.

Last part

Once you are happy with everything, backup the new database. If you have previously schedule a daily backup, you have to reschedule it again to include the new tables.

You can also deactivate and uninstall the WordPress Table Rename plugin. There is no use for it now.

That’s it. You have successfully changed your WordPress database table prefix.

Image credit: naokomc

The Safe Way to Change your WordPress Database Table Prefix originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Afloat 2.2 Adds Support For Snow Leopard and New Features

Damien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:32:00 +0000

When Snow Leopard was launched, many applications broke because of compatibility issue. Afloat was one of them (mainly due to the plugsuit issue). The good news is, Afloat 2.2 was launched to patch up the issue. Now you can get Afloat running smoothly in Snow Leopard.

For those who have not heard of Afloat, it is an useful software that you can use to keep an application window “always on top” of all other windows. One thing for sure, Afloat 2.2 brings some new features that are not available in previous version.

Make windows appear in all spaces

If you are a great fan of Spaces in Mac, then you are going to love this feature. If you are working on a project and have several application opened in different spaces, instead of traversing between spaces to access your data, you can make the application window follow you around, without you having to do the manual work.

Resize windows easily

The usual way of resizing an application window in Mac is to move your mouse to the right bottom corner of the window and drag to resize. With Afloat 2.2, you can now press Ctrl + Command + right mouse click to resize the window from anywhere inside the window region.

Move window around without dragging the title bar

By pressing Ctrl + Command + left mouse click, you can move the window around easily and quickly (similar to the Alt + left mouse click feature in Linux Compiz).

Pin to the desktop

You can also pin a window to the desktop and make it persistent. With this feature turn on, even the “Show Desktop” command will not hide the window.

Existing functionality

For those who are new to Afloat, here are some of the functionality that existed since version 1

Afloat: keep the window “always on top”. Accessible via the shortcut key Ctrl + Command + A or via the Window menu. (Note: the shortcut key don’t work in Preview)

Add transparency to windows: Press Ctrl + Command + mouse wheel scroll to change the transparency of the window. This is useful if you just want to take a quick peek at the windows beneath.

Make window an overlay: This turns a window into an overlay. When this mode is on, it will not respond to any mouse click or keyboard entry.

One thing to note: Afloat does not work with all applications. It only works for Cocoa based applications, such as Safari, Preview, iChat etc. Carbon based applications like iTunes and Finder do not get the love.

Afloat 2.2 Adds Support For Snow Leopard and New Features originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

TonidoPlug: Your Personal Cloud Server in a Plug

Damien — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:47:39 +0000

Putting all your stuffs and confidential data on the cloud may seems like a good idea as it allows you to access to them anytime, anywhere. However, it can become a totally bad decision when the security of the cloud server is compromised or the third party providers wind up their services and all your data gone down with them. When such things happen, you might wonder why you have not heard of Tonido earlier.

Tonido is a free software that turns your desktop into a personal server and allows you to access and share your files, media, calendar and apps from everywhere. Be it Windows, Mac or Linux, you simply install the software and have your own personal cloud server up and running in no time. Forget all the complicated stuffs you have heard about creating your own server. There are no technical skills required to set up and run Tonido. The best thing is – all the data resides in your own computer and there is no need to worry about security or even data loss (unless your own computer crashes).

Introducing TonidoPlug

On the other hand, if all your important data resides on your external backup drive and you wish to have your own cloud server running at all times without having to turn on your computer everytime, then TonidoPlug is the one for you.

TonidoPlug is the hardware version of Tonido. It is a tiny, low power, low cost home server and NAS device powered by Tonido software. It comes with its own RAM and CPU (and preinstalled with Ubuntu). All you need to do is to plug it into the power socket and there you are, a server ready at your beckoning. It integrates nicely with all the features found in the Tonido software and allows you to access your files, music, pictures from anywhere.

Setting up TonidoPlug

Once you have connected up the respective cables (there are only 3 cables that you need to connect: the power cable, LAN cable and the USB cable), power it up. On any computer that are linked to the home network, go to the URL: http://tonidoplug.com/ip. This will detect your Tonido Plug. In some cases where it doesn’t detect, you can enter the MAC address (at the back of the plug) to get it identified by the network.

Once the plug is detected, you will have to create a new profile for the Tonido. Those who already have an existing profile can use this method to import them into the Plug.

In the dashboard, you will find the exact same interface as the Tonido. The software available in TonidoPlug is as follow:

Many of these apps should be familiar to already Tonido users, (Jukebox, Photos, Search, Thots, Workspace). The newer apps are WebsharePro, Torrent, Explorer and Plug Admin.

Here’s a quick summary of these applications.

WebsharePro: All the power of Tonido Webshare, plus the ability to upload, setting upload quotas for users, zip downloads, viewing currently downloading lists, change thumbnail and photo slide show image size
Torrent: Download Torrent files to your plug and control torrents via your web browser from anywhere
Explorer: Web based File manager and browser that allows common file operations like rename, delete, copy files and folders and even uploads
Plug Admin: Manage your TonidoPlug hardware, recover Tonido Profile passwords, Manage attached USB drives, Share USB drives over the network for access, Monitor CPU loads etc

If you are not in your own home networks, you can also connect to your TonidoPlug via the public URL: http://yourprofilename.tonido.com:10001.

In addition, TonidoPlug is also a DLNA device, which means you are able to connect to your PS3, Xbox, or even XBMC software and stream music over the cloud.

The Tonido software is free to download and use, but the TonidoPlug comes at a price of $99.

Considering that most Web servers with the same hardware spec as the TonidoPlug can easily cost you up to $40-50 per month, at a mere price of $99, TonidoPlug is really a great bargain; not to mention the unlimited amount of storage device you can attach to it and the security issue that you never have to worry about. This is really a no-brainer deal.

Note 1: Thanks to Venkat for sending in a test unit for review and providing a prompt support for all my doubts.
Note 2: MakeTechEasier is not affiliated in any way to CodeLathe, the company behind TonidoPlug, nor do we benefit from any sale of TonidoPlug generated from this article.

TonidoPlug: Your Personal Cloud Server in a Plug originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Easily Create DVD Videos With WinX DVD Author (Free Download)

Damien — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:10:31 +0000

[Windows only] As part of the WinX DVD range of product, Winx DVD Author is a cool tool that allows you to author and create your own DVD easily. For those who are looking for a professional, yet easy to use DVD authoring software, WinX DVD Author could be the one for you.

At MakeTechEasier, we don’t usually review paid software as we are great believers of free and open source software. However, the WinX DVD team decided to give away a free 1 year license (scroll down for the download link), which makes it compelling for us to give this DVD authoring software a second look. And yes, we are not disappointed. Read on for the full review.

One good feature about WinX DVD Author is that it supports a wide variety of video formats such as AVI, ASF, MPEG, MKV, MP4, MOV, RM, RMVB, XIVD, DVIX, H264, OGG, QT (quick time), FLV, etc. Being an authoring tool, you are also able to add subtitle files, create DVD menu, clip video segment and many other useful features.

On the main screen, you can find the various options to manipulate your video files.

You can either:

Choose the DVD Author option and run through the wizard to create a DVD from your video file.
Convert the Video to Vob format and store it for later use
Convert existing Vob to DVD
and finally, burn the file to DVD.

Note that the first option DVD Author is just the combination of point 2, 3 and 4 in few clicks.

Authoring DVD

At the DVD Author page, you can see a variety of options to edit your video files.

Click on the +/- button to add/remove video files.

Change the start/end timeframe of the video.

Click on the subtitle button beside the track to add subtitle files.

Change the output resolution and check if you want to include DVD menu. There is also a one-click button for you to change between DVD-5 and DVD-9 format.

DVD title & chapter menu editing

Authoring the DVD Title & chapter menu is quite cool. Select background pictures, music and add texts that you may need to customize your DVD menu.

Burning DVD

Burning your edited video file to DVD is as simple as choosing the DVD-writer as the Device name and click on the Start button.

Suggestions for improvement:

Add text/tooltips to button

Most of the buttons found in the UI are graphical and does not come with any text description. The developers might feel that the graphic icons are self-explanatory, but I have completely no idea about the functionality of each button until I clicked on it.

Specifying supported video formats

It will be great if the developers can specify the individual supported file formats rather than just listing a Supported Formatted Files in the selection dropdown.

Add support for SWF

Not sure if this is too much to ask for, but it will be great if it can support SWF file.

Ability to create ISO images

ISO format? No?

Download link

As I mentioned above, this software costs $29.95, but is free to download until 31st Oct 2009. You can grab it at this link. This is the fully functional and licensed version, not the trial copy, so grab it while it is available.

The WinX DVD Author works in Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Thanks to Viola for sharing with us this promotion.

Download WinX DVD Author

Easily Create DVD Videos With WinX DVD Author (Free Download) originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Linux: Access 100+ Games Instantly With DJL

Damien — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:13:54 +0000

(Update: The site was up and running when this post was published, but now it seems that it is down for unknown reason.)

(Update: The site is up and running again.)

For those who always feel that gaming is not suitable in Linux OS and it is always an hassle to install and get games to run in Linux platform, then DJL will definitely change the way you think.

Djl is an open-source (GPL licensed) game manager written in Python 2.5 for the GNU/Linux Operating Systems. In short, it is an application that allows you to install/uninstall/manage your games easily. With Djl, you can browse through its repository of 100+ games and install the game you want with a simple click. No longer do you need to worry about game dependencies and all the command lines.

Installation

Download djl installer script. Extract it to your Home folder.

Open a terminal, Install the dependencies

sudo apt-get install python-qt4

Change the file permission

chmod +x ~/djl/djl.sh

Run the scripts

sh ~/djl/djl.sh

Configuration

At the first run, the configuration window will appear. Here is where you can configure the settings such as the installation directory, default browser etc.

Once you are done with the configuration, click Save and it will bring you to the main screen of DJL.

Running DJL

Once you are at the main screen, this is where the fun comes in. In the Repository tab, you can find all the games available in the DJL repository. There are currently about 120 games in the repository and new games are added regularly.

One thing that I like about the interface is that it is well organized. You can even filter the games by the game types and game license.

When you have found the game you like, simply click Install and DJL will take care of the rest.

As soon as the installation is completed, you will find an entry in the Game tab where you can click to start playing.

Plugins

Even though it is a simple game manager, DJL allows its users to install plugins to increase its functionality. While I have no use for most of the plugins, it is good to know that such stuffs exist. Plugins such as the Unreal Tournament 2004 stats could be useful for Unreal fans.

If you are not a gamer, or that you are contented with just playing with Gnometrics, then this is not for you. Other than that, this is really an awesome piece of software.

Linux: Access 100+ Games Instantly With DJL originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Create a Mac Snow Leopard USB Installer Disk

Damien — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:00:53 +0000

All Macs come with a DVD drive that you can use, so in most situations, you won’t have the need for a USB installer disk. However, there can be times when your DVD ROM is spoilt and you need to reformat/upgrade your OS. This is where an USB installer disk comes in handy. In addition, with this USB disk, you can also use it to install Mac OS on a machine without CD-ROM (i.e netbook).

In this tutorial, we will go through the way to create a Snow Leopard USB installer disk.

Requirement

An existing Mac with functional DVD-ROM
Snow leopard installer DVD (upgrade set or box set)
A USB thumb drive of at least 8GB in size

Creating a USB installer disk

1. Plug in your USB drive. Backup all the data in the USB drive.

2. Insert your Snow Leopard Installer DVD into the DVD-ROM.

3. Go to Utility -> Disk Utility. You should see the USB drive and the SL installer DVD entries on the left pane.

4. Select the USB drive. On the right pane, click on the Partition tab.

5. Here are few things that you need to do:

Under the Volume Scheme, select ‘1 Partition‘ from the dropdown
At the Name input field, enter a new name for the partition (I choose to give it the same name as the SL installer DVD).
At the Format field, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the dropdown.

At the bottom, click on the Options button.

Select GUID partition table.

Click Apply. This will repartition and reformat the USB drive.

6. Once it is done, click on the Restore tab. You will see two input field: Source and Destination.

Drag the SL Installer DVD entry to the Source field.

Drag the newly formatted USB entry to the Destination field.

Click Restore.

This will copy the image from the DVD Installer to the USB drive. You can go for a coffee break now as the whole process takes about 30 mins.

When the whole process is done, you will be able to boot and install Snow Leopard from the USB drive.

To boot your Mac from USB, you just need to select the respective entry in System Preferences -> Startup Disk.

How to Create a Mac Snow Leopard USB Installer Disk originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Screenshots Tour of Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Beta

Damien — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:14:54 +0000

Yes, after six months down the road, it’s time to gear up for the newly born Ubuntu baby again. This time, Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, will be officially released on 29th Oct 2009. We, at MakeTechEasier have not been slacking around. With the release of the 9.10 beta, we have grabbed the LiveCD image, wipe our machines clean and installed the full version onto it. Now, let us present you the screenshots tour (and new features) review of Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 beta.

New boot screen

The first thing that you will notice is the new splash screen. Unlike all previous splash screens that are in black, it comes with a brown gradient and white font color. It definitely looks much polished and refined than all all its previous reincarnations.

New login screen

No fancy stuff here. The login architecture was rewritten to provide a better integration with the system. Despite the simple design, one good thing here is that you don’t to type in your username anymore. Simply click on the respective user entry and type in the password.

New wallpaper

The default wallpaper is a plain mix of brown and orange color. Nothing fanciful here, but I do feel that it looks much more livelier than its previous iteration.

The best part is at the backend (Preferences -> Appearance) where you can choose from a great selection of newly added wallpapers.

One interesting wallpaper is the Cosmos, that is in fact a series of wallpapers packed into one. Once set, it will automatically change itself every 30 minutes, so you won’t be bored with the same old wallpaper.

There is even a link that brings you to the Gnome art to download more wallpapers.

For those who can’t wait for the release, you can also grab the wallpaper here (5.2MB).

New icon themes

A new icon theme – humanity was introduced in Karmic beta.

Existing user who wanted to install this icon theme can do so via the command:

sudo apt-get install humanity-icon-theme

Addition in the System tray

Long time Ubuntu users will notice the new addition in the System tray. The envelope icon now allows you to access your Empathy and all IM chat in real time. It also acts as a non-obstructive notification center for new incoming mails.

On your Profile button where you click to shut down your computer, you can also use it to update your IM status now.

New software – Ubuntu Software Center

There have been a lot of hearsay about the launching of the iPhone style AppStore for Ubuntu. Now, it is finally here – Ubuntu Software Center.

The Software Center is not a replacement of the Add/Remove app and Synaptic Package Manger as both of them are still available in Ubuntu Karmic. It is more of an alternative (a much better one) to those who wanted to install applications the easy way. In my opinion, this is by far the easiest and most informative way to source for a free software and get it running in your system.

When you open the Software Center, you don’t see all the apps. Instead, you will find various categories that the apps are grouped into.

Clicking on any of the category will display a list of apps in that category.

Once you found the app that you are interested in, click on it to go to the info page. Here is where you can find the description of the app and its screenshot. At the bottom is the Install button where you can click and get it install on your system.

Does this make you think of iPhone AppStore?

Empathy

For those who are crazy about Pidgin, you are going to be disappointed here. Pidgin will no longer be included in Ubuntu Karmic. Instead, it was replaced by Empathy.

Like Pidgin, Empathy supports various network protocols and allows you to login to various IM networks with one interface. Empathy supports text, voice, video, and file transfers over many different protocols, so you can transfer files over XMPP and local networks and also place voice/video call using SIP, XMPP, Google Talk and MSN.

The GUI is similar to Pidgin, so there is little to get used to.

Ubuntu One

We have previously discussed Ubuntu One and how it could possibly become a dominant force in the online storage arena. In Ubuntu Karmic, Ubuntu One is well-integrated into the system so you can skip the installation and use it straight away.

Signing up is almost instant and the Nautilus integration means you can easily access your files/folders from your Nautilus.

Backend

Enough about the front end, let take a look at the backend.

New bootloader – GRUB 2

You probably won’t notice this at all, but the software that is used to boot up the OS has been upgraded to version 2. This means better scripting support, command-line rescue mode, graphical boot as well as boot from ISO files.

GRUB 2 will only be installed for new installation. Existing users who upgrade their system via the Update Manager will continue to use the legacy GRUB bootloader.

Default Ext4 Filesystem

Ext4 filesystem was introduced in Jaunty. In Karmic, it has graduated to become the default filesystem. Like the GRUB 2 bootloader, the ext4 filsystem will only be applied for new installation. Existing users who are still on Ext3 will remain as Ext3 unless you choose to upgrade to Ext 4 manually.

That’s about all to the new features in Ubuntu Karmic beta. The official release will be on 29th Oct 2009. Are you looking forward to it?

Screenshots Tour of Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Beta originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Linux: Improve Your Battery Life With PowerTOP

Damien — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:10:58 +0000

There are plenty of things that I love about Linux, but when it comes to maximizing battery life performance, there is very little to desire. On the frontend, you might be running very few applications, but unknown to you, there are actually plenty of applications running in the backend that are quietly draining away your battery. Compiz, workspace, dock are few such examples. As a result, a battery that used to last 3 hours can only last for 2 hours (or less) now.

So what can you do about it?

PowerTOP is an application that allows you to view information about programs that are misbehaving while your computer is idle. With this information, you can then make changes and optimize your computer to squeeze more juice out of your laptop battery.

Installation

For Ubuntu and Debian based system

sudo apt-get install powertop

or simply click here to install

Running PowerTOP

In the terminal, type

sudo powertop

PowerTOP runs itself inside the terminal, so don’t expect a fanciful GUI here.

On the top of the screen, you can see the two columns showing the C-states and P-states.

The C-state refers to the idle state where your CPU is not doing anything. The higher C-state the CPU is running at, the better it is.

On the other hand, the P-state shows the operational state, or the frequency the CPU is running at most of the time. The lower frequency the CPU runs, the lesser power it will require. From the screenshot above, you can see that my laptop is running at C3 and 800MHz most of the time. (More info on the C-states and P-states can be found here)

At the bottom half is where you can see the applications that are actively running in the background. The number of wakeup refers to the number of time the application refreshes itself to check for instruction. The fewer wakeup an application makes, the better it is.

PowerTOP Suggestions

It is pretty useless if you know the cause of the problem, but not the solution to it. One thing that impresses me in PowerTOP is that it provides improvement suggestions as well as the instruction to implement the solution. It even comes with a shortcut key for those who are not familiar with the command line.

For example, in my laptop, PowerTOP detects that the USB drive is taking up plenty of resources and it suggested me to enable the USB auto-suspend mode. Even though I have completely no idea on how to do that in the terminal, I can simply press U on my keyboard and get PowerTOP to do the job for me.

Isn’t that cool!

Once you have resolved one issue, PowerTOP will continue to prompt you for the next issue, until it resolves all the issues that it can find.

Conclusion

If you are already power-managing your laptop, PowerTOP might not be able to improve your battery life to a great extent, but for those casual users who have paid no attention to such detail in the past, I am sure PowerTOP will be able to help you to get the most out of your battery; provided your battery is still functional.

Linux: Improve Your Battery Life With PowerTOP originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Easily Mount Your iPhone As An External Drive in Ubuntu

Damien — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:27:35 +0000

For those who own an iPhone/iPod Touch and at the same time is an Ubuntu (or Linux) users, here’s is a good news. You can now easily mount your iPhone in your Ubuntu without having to jailbreak your phone.

In the past, the dirty but effective way to access the iPhone from your Linux system is via SSH. This requires you to jailbreak your phone and it voids the warranty. With iFuse, you can now mount your iPhone/iPod Touch under Linux with just a USB cable. You can also view/edit/cut/copy/paste the file just like any USB disk drive.

Installation

Open up your terminal, type the following to open up your APT sources file

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Insert the following lines to the end of the file

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonabeck/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonabeck/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

The above is assuming that you are using Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty). For any other version, simply replace the jaunty by the respective version name (hardy, intrepid, karmic etc)

Save and close the file.

Back in the terminal:

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com F0876AC9
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ifuse

Once the installation is done, connect your iPhone to your computer via the USB cable.

Open up your Nautilus. You should see the iPhone/iPod entry at the side pane. This show that it is already mounted in your system.

Click on the entry to view the filesystem.

Things that you can do

1. View/copy/download photos.

You can now manage the photos that you have taken with your iPhone without iTunes.

2. Create folders, upload/download files

You can now use your iPhone as a USB drive and use it for file storage. To allow confusion/conflict with the other system files, it is best to create a custom folder (and name it My Folder) and store all your files there.

3. Managing address book/calendar (upcoming)

Work is underway to sync the contact data with Conduit.

What you cannot do now

Manage your music database

Apple uses a cryptographic signing algorithm to encrypt all the music files. While you can access the music folder, there is no way that you can transfer your music over and get it to work in your iPhone.

Note:
1. iFuse is not Ubuntu-specific app. It works for most Linux distro as well.

2. Mac users can also use iPhoneDisk to achieve similar functionality.

How to Easily Mount Your iPhone As An External Drive in Ubuntu originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Set Up Push Notification For Gmail in iPhone

Damien — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:41:37 +0000

Few days ago, Google announced that they have released the push notification support for Gmail for mobile devices such as iPhone and Windows Mobile. Today, let us show you how you can set up a push Gmail account on your iPhone.

By following this tutorial, you can also configure it to sync your contact and calendar.

Before you start, please note that Google sync only work with iPhone firmware 3.0 and above.

Getting Started

1. Tap on the Settings.app icon on the home page

2. Scroll down and open Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap Add Account

4. Select Microsoft Exchange.

5. In the Email field, enter your Gmail address.

Leave the Domain field blank.

Enter your Google’s Username and Password.

Once done, tap Save. You might see the “Unable to verify certificate” error message. Select Accept.

6. A new Server input field will now appear. Enter “m.google.com“. Tap Next to continue.

7. Select the Google services that you want to sync. For me, I activated all the available synchronization services. Tap Done.

Your Google sync Push notification services is now set up.

To activate the push notification, you need to turn the Push feature on in the iPhone Settings section.

At the Mail, Contacts, Calendar section, tap Fetch New Data

Make sure that the Push is turned to ON.

Done.

Few things to note:

1. Google sync requires you to be constantly connected to the Web. You have to keep your 3G or WIFI connection ‘Always ON’ for the best result.

2. The push notification can be very draining on your battery life. If you value your battery life much more than the push technology, turn the Push feature OFF for optimal performance.

How to Set Up Push Notification For Gmail in iPhone originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

How to Access StumbleUpon and Stumble Through Websites in an iPhone

Damien — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:10:27 +0000

In the past, if you want to access StumbleUpon on your iPhone/iPod Touch, you will know that it is not an easy task. Back then, SU only exists as a Firefox extension and does not plays well with any of the mobile devices. However, with the launch of the SU web toolbar, anyone can now access StumbleUpon on any browsers without having to install any applications/extensions. The best thing, it works fine in iPhone/iPod Touch too.

In your iPhone, open the safari app.

On the address bar, enter www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar

That’s it. The StumbleUpon toolbar will appear and it immediately stumbles you to one of its pages.

To stumble through websites, simply tap on the Stumble button, like how you always did on your computer browser.

Adding to bookmarks

To save the effort of having to retype the URL everytime, you can save the SU toolbar in your bookmark.

Everytime when you access the StumbleUpon toolbar, it will start stumbling and append the destination URL to its own, resulting in an URL like http://www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar/#2LpQMi/maketecheasier.com/8-useful-and-interesting-bash-prompts/2009/09/04/topic:Linux%2FUnix.

I am sure you won’t want to save this long URL in your bookmark, unless you want to save this particular page for future reference.

Here’s how you can change it.

On any StumbleUpon page, click the + at the bottom screen to save the current URL to Bookmark.

Change the title to StumbleUpon (or any name you like). Note that you won’t be able to change the URL here.

Save to Bookmark.

Back in the Bookmark screen, tap on the Edit (at the bottom left corner) button.

Press the StumbleUpon bookmark entry to go into Edit mode.

Change the URL to www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar. Save.

That’s it. Everytime you launch this bookmark, it will start stumbling.

Personally, I found that using StumbleUpon on my iPhone drained my battery much faster than normal browsing. I am not sure if it is only me, or this is a SU issue. If you have such issues too, feel free to voice it out in the comments.

How to Access StumbleUpon and Stumble Through Websites in an iPhone originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

3banana: A User-friendly Note-taking Application

Damien — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:35:06 +0000

Banana is never a synonym to technology, but 3banana Inc. somehow manages to merge them together by creating an useful web-based note-taking application and call it 3banana (yes, without the ’s’).

For those who have tried and used popular note-taking apps like Evernote or Reqall, you’ll be surprised at how simple 3banana is, without losing much of the functionality. It is one of the few note-taking application that promotes usability, portability and effortless sharing.

Usability

First of all, 3bananas is free. You just have to sign up for an account to start using it. If you have a Google account (I bet most of us have at least one), you can even sign in with your Google username and password without having to create a separate account.

Once you are logged in, the first note that appears on the dashboard is the instruction on how to use 3banana. There are several useful things that you can apply to your notes:

Links – 3banana detects all URLs and turns them to hyperlinks automatically.

HTML tags - It doesn’t support all the HTML tags, but those that it supports are enough to allow you to create a rich-text formatting note. Currently, the html tags supported by 3banana are <a href>,
, , , , , , , (it does not support and ). You can even attach your photos or embed a YouTube video into your notes.

Twitter-like #hashtag - Twitter has make popular the #hashtag way of organizing and searching tweets. 3banana has included this feature in its app to make your notes easier to organize and search. Simply insert a #category at the end of the note to give it a label. All notes with URLs and images are automatically assigned the label URL and Image respectively.

Portability

In your browser, 3banana can be easily accessed on the site itself or via the bookmarklets. When you are on the move, you can also access 3banana on your mobile devices. Currently, 3banana app is available for iPhone/iPod Touch (iTunes Appstore link) and any Android devices. Other phones with an Internet connection can also access the mobile site as http://m.3banana.com.

One good thing that I like about the iPhone’s 3banana app is the ability to use it when you are offline. For other note-taking apps like Evernote and ReQall on iPhone, you can use it only when you are connected to the Web, but 3banana allows you to create a note at anytime and sync it to the server when your Internet connection is next available.

Effortless Sharing

In this Web 2.0 era, you seldom find an app that doesn’t come with web-sharing feature. Be it on your computer’s browser or on your iPhone, 3banana has make it easy for you to share your notes to Facebook and Twitter. Android users can even share as a QR code. There is also an email function for those who are not into social media stuffs.

Just like a blog entry, you can also leave comments on your own (or your friend’s) notes.

Conclusion

Other than the word “banana”, which I can’t find any association with the application, I am very much impressed by the application itself. It might not be the most elegant app around, but its simple user-interface, great usability and portability have definitely make it stands out from the rest.

If you have used 3bananas, I love to hear your experience in the comments.

3banana: A User-friendly Note-taking Application originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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Jolicloud – The Innovative OS For The Web-Centric Crowd

Damien — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:56:32 +0000

For those who are sick of using Windows XP on their netbook and wanted to try out a netbook-efficient and more user friendly OS, then Jolicloud could well be the one heading to your netbook.

Jolicloud is a new Linux distro based on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but specifically optimized for netbook devices. What make it stands out from the rest is its Web services that delivers a whole new Web-centric experience to its users (we will discuss more on that later).

Jolicloud is currently at closed alpha testing stage and only offer download on an invitation basis. The download is a LiveCD installer of around 600MB, distributed in iso format. You will have to use a USB creator software to mount the iso file on a USB drive before you can use it to install on a netbook.

When you first boot up the OS, you will see a Ubuntu-like grub splash screen.

Similarly, on the home screen, you will find the familiar UNR user interface.

On further exploration, you will also find that many of the standard software suite found in UNR (like Open Office, GIMP, Rhythmbox) are no longer available. Even Ubuntu signature app installer: Synaptic Package Manger, is missing. There is a good reason for that. Jolicloud stripped out all the heavy-duty and redundant applications in the system and allows you to customize fully what applications you want in your computer.

This is also where Jolicloud Web Services plays its part.

Click on the My Jolicloud icon (or the Get Started icon in Favorites tab) to launch Jolicloud Web Services. This is basically a Mozilla Prism application that connects you to the Jolicloud server.

Jolicloud Dashboard

This is essentially the starting point of your Jolicloud Web-centric experience. The dashboard contains news information and notification of the software update for your netbook.

Jolicloud Application

The application panel functions just like the iPhone App Store where you can choose the applications you want and install it in your netbook, easily and quickly. You are not restricted to install only desktop based application. Most of the popular web-based apps such as Google docs, Zoho office, YouTube can also be installed in your system (basically they are just customized build of Prism). Who says you need to know command line to install applications in Linux?

Jolicloud Settings – the social media stuff

The Settings panel is where you can follow other Jolicloud’s members (in Twitter style) and get update on what they are installing in their system. One thing though, for those who are concerned with their privacy, (unfortunately) I have not found a way to prevent others from following you. I strongly hope that Jolicloud can fix this up and allow more privacy control to the users.

Conclusion

For an OS that is still in alpha testing, Jolicloud is impressive. Surely there are plenty of bugs still need to be sorted out, but for the simple, yet user-friendly and easy to use interface, it really worth the praise.

Things that I hope to see improvement in future release:

1) Privacy control for the end-users
2) Support for a wider range of netbooks (currently it only works on certain models)
3) Better hardware support

Have you tried out Jolicloud? If not, apply for the invitation code here.

Jolicloud – The Innovative OS For The Web-Centric Crowd originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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How To Boot And Install Windows 7 From USB Flash Drive (Updated)

Damien — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:39:08 +0000

Previously, I have discussed the way to create a Windows 7 USB installer drive using the command prompt. Even though I have make it easy to follow, there are still some of you having some difficulty in the process. Recently, I have come across this little cool portable application that is able to do all the things covered in the previous tutorial in a breeze and without the command prompt.

The application that I am talking about is WinToFlash. This is a small application (only 2.1MB) that allows you to convert your Windows installer CD/DVD to a bootable USB drive. Not only is it easy to use (nearly idiot-proof and does not require you to have any technical knowledge), it is also fully portable – No installation is required and you can bring it wherever you are.

Preparation

Before you start, here are some stuffs that you need to take note of:

1) You need to have a USB drive of at least 3GB space in order to create a Windows 7 bootable USB drive.

2) The process will format and wipe off all your files in the USB drive. Remember to backup before you proceed.

3) You need to have a Windows 7 installer DVD and an optical drive to read the DVD. If you have only the ISO file (downloaded directly from Microsoft), you can use Virtual Clone Drive to mount the ISO in your computer.

Installation

Download WinToFlash

Put in your Windows 7 installer DVD and plug in your USB drive.

Unzip the folder to your desktop and run the WinToFlash.exe file

Some of you might see the “WinToFlash DLP_NotFound” error message. You can safely ignore this error message.

On the main screen, click on the Window Setup Transfer Wizard. This will bring you to the wizard mode where it automates (almost) the whole process for you.

On the next screen, there is an option for you to go into the Advanced mode and tweak some of the settings. You can ignore that (if you are not into tweaking) and click Next to proceed.

Point the Windows file path to the Windows Installer DVD directory.

Point the USB drive to the USB directory.

Click Next.

Accept the agreement.

Preparing your USB drive. Make sure you have backup all the important files before you proceed. This will erase all your data.

Transferring in progress. This might take a while. Go for your coffee break.

Once you see the following message, the whole process is done. You can now boot Windows 7 from the USB drive.

Some computers require you to change the bootup setting in the BIOS before you can boot from USB. Look into your motherboard/computer manual for more instruction.

How To Boot And Install Windows 7 From USB Flash Drive (Updated) originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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How to Enable Flash Support in Google Chrome in Ubuntu

Damien — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:29:54 +0000

The Chromium team has released an alpha unstable version of the Google Chrome for Linux and Mac platform. Those who are keen to try out Google Chrome in their Ubuntu machine, but are not willing to run it under wine, you can now grab the deb file and install it in your system.

One of the limitation of Google Chrome in Linux is that it does not support flash. If you intend to use it to watch your favorite YouTube channel, then you are out of luck. Luckily, there is a little trick that you can use to overcome this limitation. If you have installed the Adobe Flash player for your Firefox browser, you can now use the same player to run flash script in Google Chrome.

Installation

If you have not installed Google Chrome (unstable), go to the Chromium dev channel and grab the respective deb file for your system (32-bit and 64-bit). Double click on the deb file to start the installation. The whole process shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Check for Adobe Flash player

If you have previously installed the Adobe Flash Player in your system, you should be able to find the libflashplayer.so file in the /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer directory. However, if you have installed the Flash player via the ubuntu-restricted-extra package, the libflashplayer.so will be located at the /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin directory instead.

To find out where your libflashplayer.so is located, you might want to do a search in Nautilus.

If you have not installed Flash Player, run the command in your terminal to install it:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer

Installing the Flash plugin

Create a plugins folder in the Google Chrome directory

sudo mkdir /opt/google/chrome/plugins

Copy the libflashplayer.so file to the plugins folder.

sudo cp /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so /opt/google/chrome/plugins

Note: change the source path if your libflashplayer.so file is not located at other location.

Editing the Application menu

Right click at the Application menubar and select “Edit Menus”

Scroll down to find “Internet” on the left pane and select Google Chrome on the right. Click on the Properties button on the right side.

In the Command field, change the command to

/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --enable-plugins %U

Save and close all the windows.

The flash player should be working in your Google Chrome now.

How to Enable Flash Support in Google Chrome in Ubuntu originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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How to Easily Upgrade your Firefox to 3.5 (and future version) in Ubuntu

Damien — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:14:58 +0000

Have you ever feel frustrated when Mozilla releases a new build for their software (especially Firefox) and you are still stuck at the previous older version, simply because Ubuntu did not (and do not intend to) add the newer version of software packages to the repository?

The truth of fact is, Ubuntu does not update its repositories for newer version of software packages, with the exception of security fixes, until the next release of Ubuntu. For example, the default version of Firefox for Ubuntu Jaunty is Firefox 3.0 and it won’t be upgraded to Firefox 3.5 at least until Ubuntu 9.10. In most cases, especially when it comes to browsers and various Web application, it is always better to upgrade to the newest version due to the new features and security improvement. This is where Ubuntuzilla comes into play.

Ubuntuzilla is a python script that checks your system for Mozilla software (Firefox, Thunderbird, or Seamonkey) and update them to the latest version released from Mozilla server. It also comes with an update checker that periodically performs automatic checks and updates to keep your system up-to-date with possible changes in the Mozilla website and release servers.

Install Ubuntuzilla

Download the deb file to your desktop. (64-bit users go to this site and download the ubuntuzilla-x.x.x-0ubuntu1-amd64.deb package.)

Double click on the deb file to load the graphical installer. Click on the Install Package to install it in your system.

Running Ubuntuzilla

Once you have finished the installation, close all instance of your Firefox (if you are using Thunderbird or SeaMonkey, close them as well).

Open up a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and type

ubuntuzilla.py

It will now prompt you a series of questions:

The first question is to ask if you want to upgrade to the latest version of Firefox. No doubt, the answer is ‘y‘.

Next step is to choose the language for your Firefox.

It will then proceed to download and install the latest stable build of Firefox in your system.

At the end of the installation, it will ask you if you want to schedule a periodical check of the latest release of the software.

Remove Firefox

For some reasons that you are not happy with the latest release of Firefox and wanted to switch back to the previous version, you can easily remove the latest build by running the following command in the terminal:

ubuntuzilla.py -a remove -p firefox

Firefox 3.0 will be restored in your system.

How to Easily Upgrade your Firefox to 3.5 (and future version) in Ubuntu originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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How to Receive Yahoo Mails From Desktop Email Client in Mac

Damien — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:00:05 +0000

A few months ago, Microsoft has make available the POP3 access to Hotmail. This means that Hotmail users can now receive/send their mails from their desktop clients. Apparently, Yahoo didn’t think this is a big problem. Until now, they still make the POP3 access exclusive to their premium users.

If you are a Mac and Yahoo user, a good news for you is that you can make use of MacFreePOPs to configure your desktop email client (particularly mail.app) to receive your Yahoo mail. You won’t be able to send mail though. (Windows and Linux users can use the popular YPOPs to configure their desktop clients to access Yahoo)

First download MacFreePop here.

Run MacFrePop. You should see the screen below:

If the update button is available, make sure you click it and update all the internal files. Failure to update the files might render this application useless.

Click on the Extra options to show a list of configuration options. Click on the freepopsd service tab.

Place a check in the first row of options and change the port to 2000 and the address to 127.0.0.1

Once that is done, click on the Start freepopsd service to start the server running.

Now open up your mail.app.

Go to Mail->Preferences and select on the Accounts tab. At the bottom, click on the ‘+’ to add a new mail account.

Enter your name, email address and the password. Leave the “Automatically set up account” option alone.

Click Continue.

Select POP from the dropdown option.

In the Incoming Mail Server field, enter “127.0.0.1“.

In the User Name field, enter the full email address (including the @yahoo.com). Click Continue.

MacFreePop does not allow you to send emails from your Yahoo account, but you can still configure it to send via third party email accounts (or your existing accounts).

At the Outgoing Mail Server dropdown option, choose a setting that you have previously configured. Click Continue.

You should be done with the new account setup. Back in the Account options screen, highlight the newly created account on the left pane and select the Advanced tab on the right pane.

In the Port field, change it to 2000.

Exit the Preferences window.

Back to your Inbox, click on Get Mail. Your mail.app will start to download all your Yahoo emails now.

Troubleshooting

Why can’t I receive emails?

Make sure that you update all the internal files of MacFreePop by clicking the Update Available button.

Make sure that you start the freepopsd server before you start to retrieve emails.

Make sure that in the account setup section, you use ‘127.0.0.1′ as the Incoming server.

Make sure that you have changed the port to 2000 in the Account setup.

How to Receive Yahoo Mails From Desktop Email Client in Mac originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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How to Password Protect Your USB Drive Without Administrator Privilege

Damien — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:00:59 +0000

Password protecting my USB drive is often the most important thing that I do when I went on travel. With all the confidential information in the USB drive, the last thing that I want to see is to lost it and have others to access all my precious data.

Although I have previously covered two useful software for encrypting USB drive: Windows 7 BitLocker and TrueCrypt, one thing that prevented me from using them on the move is that these two software require administrator privilege (or the ultimate version of Windows 7) to use, which in most Internet cafes, you don’t have access to.

There are also several others encryption software out there, but the one that worked well for me, and apparently free and does not require any administrator privileges is Rohos Mini Drive.

What Rohos Mini Drive does is to create hidden and encrypted partition on the USB flash drive memory. When you plug in your USB drive, you won’t get to see the hidden partition. Only when you run the Rohos application (within the USB drive) and enter your password, then will the hidden partition appear. Since the Rohos application does not require access (or modification) to the computer’s system, it doesn’t require any administrator privileges to run it. This is great for those who need to access their encrypted data on a public computer that they don’t have administrator access to.

Installing Rohos Mini Drive

The initial step to create an encrypted USB drive requires you to install and run the application in your own computer. This will require administrator privileges.

Download Rohos Mini Drive (Windows only).

Double click the application to install it in your computer.

Once the installation is done, insert in your USB drive. You don’t have to reformat the drive, but you have to make sure that there is enough space to create the new partition.

Open the Rohos Mini Drive application from the Start menu.

In the main window, click Setup USB Key

Rohos Mini Drive will proceed to detect your USB drive. Click Change to edit the partition configuration.

In the configuration window, you can configure the Disk letter that the hidden partition to be mounted to, the encrypted partition size (maximum 2GB), the file system type and the encryption algorithm. The last thing is to point the installation location to your USB drive. The encrypted file will come with a .rdi extension.

Click OK to proceed.

Back to the USB Key Creation window, enter your password and make sure that it is a safe one. Click Create Disk.

Encryption completed.

Now open your Windows Explorer and navigate to your USB drive. You should see only the Rohos Mini application (which was not there originally).

Double click the Rohos mini application. Enter the encryption password when prompted.

You should now see your hidden partition prompted in the drive letter that you have chosen earlier.

You can install all your portable apps or store your confidential data on the hidden partition now.

What other software do you use to encrypt your USB drive?

How to Password Protect Your USB Drive Without Administrator Privilege originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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A Hands on and Review of Ubuntu One

Damien — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:00:18 +0000

Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu) has recently released a beta version of their online file syncing service – UbuntuOne for public testing. This file syncing service is similar to the popular Dropbox service and it allows you to share and sync file across different computers.

In this tutorial, we are going to take a quick look at its functionality and how you can install UbuntuOne in your Ubuntu machine.

First of all, before you can install the application on your computer, you need to request for an invitation code from Ubuntu. If you have a Launchpad.net account, simply login to UbuntuOne and request your invitation code, else it will prompt you to register a Launchpad account.

Secondly, your computer has to be LInux-based, specifically Ubuntu Jaunty. The application does not work on Windows or Mac. If you are using other Linux distro, or older version of Ubuntu, use it at your own risk.

The application for the invitation code can take up to 3 days. Once you have received the code (via email), you can click on the link to activate your account. Here is also where you select the subscription plan. Currently, UbuntuOne offers a free 2GB storage plan and a 10GB plan for US$10 per month.

Installation

If you are using Ubuntu Jaunty, the installation will be a breeze.

1. On the installation page, download the PPA to your desktop. Double click to install the PPA onto your computer.

2. Next, click on the Install button to install the ubuntuone-client package.

The installation make use of the pre-installed apturl package to install the application onto your computer. For some reasons that the Install button does not work (either you don’t have apturl package installed or you are using a non-Firefox browser), you can still install the application via the terminal:

sudo apt-get install ubuntuone-client-gnome

3. Once the installation is done, go to Applications->Internet->Ubuntu One. This will load the application (and the system tray icon) and bring up a webpage that asks you for permission to access your computer.

You have to click on the “Add This Computer” and grant it permission to access your computer before you can start using it. If you are not comfortable with this, click Cancel and forget about using Ubuntu One in your computer.

4. Open your Nautilus folder. You should now see a Ubuntu One folder in your home directory. In the folder, you will find two sub-folders: My Files and Shared With Me. The My Files folder is for you to store and sync your files/folders online while the Shared With Me folder will show files that are shared with you by others. When you shared your files with others, those files will appear in their Shared With Me folder too.

5. At any point of time, you can also manage your files via the Web interface.

Review

At the moment, Ubuntu One only offers simple file storage/synchronization/sharing with others. Those are the basic stuffs that most online file storage services provide, so there is nothing special about it. In addition, Ubuntu One only supports Ubuntu Jaunty, which makes people wonder if it is really worth the time and effort to download and try it.

Well, the real value of Ubuntu One does not lies in the file storage/synchronization. This is only the first step. The real objective is to be able to synchronize your computer application data and preferences and to be able to control the whole computer online. Imagine the scenario where you installed all the Firefox extension in one machine and it syncs and imports itself automatically to the other machine that also have Ubuntu One installed. When you access the other computer, you can use your Firefox immediately without having to reinstall all the extensions.

Being an application that have access to your computer and holds your data online, it also means that you could possibly control your computer (such as screen sharing or remote access) right from the Web. I am not sure if Canonical is implementing this, but a WebOS that holds all your application data and preferences is highly possibly with the Ubuntu One architecture.

As Ubuntu One opens itself to third party developers in the future, we will start to see more and more applications that make use of the sharing/synchronization services. While Ubuntu One does not support multiple OS platforms, it is also highly possible that third-party developers can do it by integrating the underlying components (or via WebDAV) with a platform specific shell.

Conclusion

Ubuntu One is still at beta mode and there are plenty of things that are not on par with other online storage solution such as Dropbox. However, with the vision of Ubuntu One and as Ubuntu become more and more popular, I won’t be surprised to see Ubuntu One becoming a major force in the file and data management arena in the near future.

What do you think?

A Hands on and Review of Ubuntu One originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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FileInspect: Learn the Truth About Windows Processes Running In Your Computer

Damien — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:01:22 +0000

Have you ever wondered what is that files/processes that are running in the background of your computer and causing all your applications to slow down, or even crashed? Well, I know you can easily fire up your task manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del) and see what processes are running, but what I wanted to say is, do you really know what are they, their functionalities and whether it is safe to delete/disable them so as to free up some system resources?

In the past, there has not been an easy way for noobs like us to understand what is behind the scene. With File Inspect, this suddenly become a breeze (and you can easily become an expert and boast to your friends).

File Inspect Library is an educational site that provides detailed information of all (if not, most) the processes/files running in your Windows machine. You simply type in the process/file name and it will bring you its description, functionality and whether it is safe to delete/disable them. Cool, isn’t it?

Let’s delve into it further.

When you go to the site – http://fileinspect.com, you will find a search bar, a list of the most popular files and a list of the most dangerous files on the home page.

Type in the process/file name in the search bar to start searching. As you type, it will fetch the results on the fly and displays them in a dropdown list.

The search result is categorize into different status: safe, unsafe and dangerous. A safe file is denoted by a green icon, unsafe with yellow icon and dangerous with a red icon. In some occasions, you will find that there are several entries of the same file name marked with different colors (see screenshot below). The reason being that some viruses/worms disguise themselves as the filename of some important processes and create havoc in your computer.

Click on the search result to get more information.

On the information page, you will find a great deal of information, including what is the process’s functionality, where it is located, is it safe to remove, (if yes) how to remove etc.

At this moment, File Inspect is still in beta version as the developer is testing out the algorithm and making sure the file description is up-to-date. In the final version, there will also be some extra widgets that you can use to show where have all the bad files spread to.

Is File Inspect everything I need to protect my computer?

In actual fact, NO! Unlike any other antivirus or firewall software, File Inspect Library does not safe guard the safety of your computer. It is only meant to be used as an informational hub for you to get educated on the various files/processes running behind the scene. You still have to play your part to install a good antivirus and Firewall software and perform regular system scan.

FileInspect: Learn the Truth About Windows Processes Running In Your Computer originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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