Restore Files from Backups in Windows Home Server
Mar/100
If you use Windows Home Server to backup the machines on your network, your in luck if you accidentally delete important files or they become corrupted. Today we take a look at getting your data back from backups on your home server.
Open Windows Home Server Console and click select the Computers and Backup tab. Right-click on the computer you need to restore files for and select View Backups.
This will open a list of your recent backups. Highlight the one you want to open, then click the Open button in the Restore or View Files section.
If this is the first time you’re restoring a file, you’ll be asked to verify installation of the device software. Check the box next to Always trust software from Microsoft Corporation and click Install.
Now wait while the backup data is retrieved.
After the backup data has been retrieved, an explorer windows opens up to drive (Z:) which is the backup data. It’s just like if you were opening a drive on your local machine. Now you can browse through the backup and find the files your missing. You can open the files directly, or drag them onto your machine to the location you want to restore them.
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Restoring your data is actually a very easy process with Windows Home Server. Of course you’ll want to make sure the computers on your network are being backed up to WHS. if you need help with that, check out our article on how to configure your computer to backup to WHS. If you want to backup your home server shares, check out our article on how to backup WHS folder to an external drive.
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Restore Files from Backups in Windows Home Server
Add Shareaholic Goodness to Google Chrome
Feb/100
Have you been waiting to get that Shareaholic goodness in Google Chrome? Then your wait is over. Join us as we take a look at the Shareaholic for Google Chrome extension.
Note: Shareaholic is also available for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Flock, Safari, and Songbird (see Shareaholic homepage link below).
Shareaholic Setup
After the extension has finished installing you will see your new “Toolbar Button” and a new tab will open with information about Shareaholic. You should leave this “Information Tab” open for at least a few minutes because of the “login/create an account links”.
Note: There are no “in-browser” options to worry with.
If you click on the “Toolbar Button” this is what the drop-down window will look like. You can go ahead and start using the extension if desired at this point but you will be limited to the services shown here. Customization of the “Services List” does require an account and is definitely recommended.
For our example we decided to create a new account and having the “Information Tab” open helped get the process started very easily.
There are only three things required for an account: a user name, an e-mail address, & a password.
Once you have created your new account you should go ahead and check your e-mail first. You will find a “Confirmation Request E-mail” waiting for you…click on the link provided to finish things up and you are ready to start customizing your “Services List”.
Here is a complete list of the services available at the moment. You can see the default set of services “highlighted/shaded” here. Changing what services are displayed is extremely easy…click on your choices to select (highlight/shade) a desired service or to deselect an unwanted service.
A better look at the “Shareaholic Account Window”…
Here is our “Services List” ready to go after making some changes.
Shareaholic for Google Chrome in Action
We decided to test Shareaholic on one of the great tutorial pages here at the site. To share just click on the “Toolbar Button”, select the desired service, and have that service open in a new tab (or window depending on your personal settings).
We started with Google Mail…we were really pleased to see that the entire tab was focused as a “Compose Window”. The “Subject & Letter Areas” were auto-filled for us…all that was left to do was choose an e-mail address, add any additional desired text, and send the letter out.
Next we chose Twitter. Once again everything was auto-filled and the webpage link was automatically converted to a shortened URL using bit.ly.
Our final test was choosing is.gd. The webpage address was also auto-converted for us…all that was left to do was copy and paste our new shortened URL. This extension is a pleasure to use and will definitely become one of your most favorite (and useful) browser add-ins.
Conclusion
The Shareaholic for Google Chrome extension will make a great addition to your Chrome browser…useful, convenient and fun to use. This is definitely a recommended install. Be sure to add Shareaholic to all of the other browsers on your computer so that you can enjoy that sharing goodness to the fullest.
Links
Download the Shareaholic for Google Chrome extension (Google Chrome Extensions)
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Add Shareaholic Goodness to Google Chrome
Configure Your Computer to Backup to Windows Home Server
Feb/100
One of the cool features of Windows Home Server is being able to set backups of the other computers on your network to the server. Today we take a look at the process of configuring a computer on your network to be backed up automatically to WHS.
Backup to WHS
To backup a computer your network, open the Windows Home Server Console and select Computers & Backup. Right-click the computer to backup and select Configure Backup.
The Backup Configuration Wizard kicks off…
Wait while the Configuration Wizard collects information…
Choose the disks you want to backup…notice you can also choose external drives if you wish to back them up. Note that the disk needs to be formatted as NTFS, if it’s not then it won’t be displayed in the list.
Now choose the folders you want to exclude from the backup. The grayed out locations are automatically excluded but you may want to remove them from the exclude list. If you want to exclude other folders click on the Add button.
Now go through and select the folders to exclude from the backup. To reduce the size of your backups, you might exclude large media files and unimportant documents, pictures…etc. Make sure you don’t exclude your most important documents, pictures, and other data.
After you’re done excluding folders from the backup, click Next to continue.
Then you’ll have the Congratulations screen showing a summary of the backup size, the time of day backups will occur, and the backup frequency which is daily.
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After the backup process completes you’ll be able to see if a computer has been backed up or not in WHS Console.
If you want to change the time of day backups occur, click on Settings in WHS Console then Backup. Under Backup Time you can change the start and end time to what fits your schedule.
To view a backup just right-click on the computer and select View Backups.
It opens the View Backups window where you can verify and manage your computer’s backups.
Conclusion
This will get you started with backups and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your computer’s data is being backed up to the server. The process is relatively simple and the main thing is to make sure the backups aren’t needlessly large with unnecessary files (such as large multimedia files). There’s a lot more administration you can do with backups, and we’ll be taking a detailed look at managing them in future posts…so stay tuned. Remember that you can download a free 30 day trial of Windows Home Server, so if you have an extra machine you can dedicate to being a server, you might want to check it out.
Download the 30 Day Trial of Windows Home Server
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Understanding the Libraries Feature in Windows 7
Feb/100
The new libraries feature in Windows 7 makes it easier to manage your files and folders. Today we take a look at how to access libraries, how to use them, and how to include network locations to the libraries as well.
The libraries feature in Windows 7 provides a central place to manage files that are located in multiple locations throughout your computer. Instead of clicking through a bunch of directories to find the files you need, including them in a library makes for quicker access.
Access Libraries
To access the libraries in Windows 7, type libraries into the search box in the Start Menu and hit Enter.
The default libraries in Windows 7 will open up in Explorer which are Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos.
Anytime you’re in Windows Explorer, you’ll be able to access libraries from the Navigation Pane.
Using Libraries
In these examples we’ll take a look at the Documents Library, but the procedures will work for any library you want to add locations to. If you’ve been working in Windows 7 for a while and storing documents to the My Documents folder, when you open the Documents Library, you’ll see those documents. Some applications install folders in the My Documents folder by default and you’ll see those as well.
What if you have documents stored in a folder other than My Documents? You need to add it to the Documents Library. There are a couple of ways you can go about it. Right-click on a folder and select Include in library from the context menu, then choose the Documents Library. Keep in mind that when you add a folder to a library, that folder is still in it’s original location.
Or when you have the folder containing your documents open, select Include in library and choose the library to put them in from the dropdown.
Here we take a look at the Documents library that contains files that are located in different places throughout the hard drive, including some on another partition.
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You can also remove items from libraries as well. When you’re in a library click on the locations link.
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The Documents Library Locations window opens up and from here you can add or remove locations.
Create New Libraries
The default libraries are all well and good, but if you really want to take advantage of this feature, you’ll want to create your own. While in the libraries directory click on the New library button and give it a name.
In this example we made a new library called Work Projects. The first time you open it you’ll be prompted to include a folder.
Browse to the location with the files you want to add then click Include folder.
Now the files included in that folder will show up in the new library.
After you’ve created some libraries they’ll be added to the list to select from.
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Add Network Locations
While libraries are a handy new feature, it’s not perfect. Not all folders can be added to libraries as Microsoft has stuck some rules on them. You can pretty much add anything from a local drive, including other volumes or partitions. External USB drives formatted as NTFS or Fat32 can be added as well. Things get kind of weird when you’re trying to add network and non-indexed locations.
Thankfully there’s a handy free utility you can use that makes adding network locations a lot easier. Win7 Library Tool is small and straight forward to use. Just click on the Create a new library button.
Then add the network location you want included in the library. Notice this tool will also allow you to easily change the library icon which is a neat additional feature.
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In this example we’ve added a home network share that contains music files to a library named MP3 library.
Conclusion
This should help get you started using Libraries in Windows 7, which at first might take some getting used to. Once you understand how they work and start creating your own, you’ll find they’re actually pretty useful. Once you get going, you’ll find the Win7 Library Tool makes adding network locations a snap. How about you? Do you use libraries in Windows 7? Leave a comment and let us know what you like or don’t like about the feature.
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Add Weather Forecasts to Google Chrome
Jan/100
Are you looking for a quick and easy way to see your local weather forecast in Google Chrome? Then you will definitely want to take a good look at the AccuWeather Forecast extension.
Installation & Setup
Adding the extension is simple… Once you have started the install process you will see the following confirmation message window. Click “Install” to finish adding the extension to Google Chrome.
Once the installation is complete you will see a new “Toolbar Button” and the following message.
To access weather forecasts for your desired location click on the “Toolbar Button” to display the following window. Notice that you can click to access the options in two places…
The options will open in a new tab where you can add the name for the city you are wanting weather forecasts for, decide whether to use Metric measurements or not, use the available link to find the code for international locations, and set the background color for the drop-down weather window.
We were able to type in Singapore and get the weather forecast location we needed without having to look the code up at “accuweather.com”. Once you have your location added in click the “Save Button” to finish up (if you do not want to make any changes to the background color for the drop-down weather window).
Once you have clicked “Save” you will see this confirmation message window. Click “OK” to close it.
A single click on our “Toolbar Button” displayed the current conditions, forecast for the current day, and the forecast for the next three days. Very nice indeed…
A closer look at the drop-down window. Notice that there are clickable links near the top for “Hourly Info, 15 Day Forecasts, & Videos”. Definitely useful…
Clicking on any of the links will open up a new tab with the information that you were looking for.
Options
If you want to change the location or background color later there are two ways to access the options for the extension. The first is through the “Chrome Extensions Page”…
And the second is using the “Options Link” in the upper right corner of the drop-down weather window.
For those curious about changing the background color for the drop-down window you can do that by clicking on the link in the lower right corner of the “Text Area”. This can be really nice if you are wanting to match the drop-down window to your current browser theme.
A new tab will open up with access to a color code picker…
You may either choose a pre-existing color or use your mouse to set up a custom color on the spectrum chart. Once you have chosen a color you will see a color code displayed in the lower right corner that will need to be copied to your clipboard. For our example we chose a pre-existing color…
Paste the new color code into the background color text area and click “Save” to finish up. You will see the confirmation window shown above after saving your changes.
Here is how our “brightly colored” example turned out…
Conclusion
If you have been wanting a way to access weather forecasts for your location in Google Chrome, then this is an extension worth looking at.
Links
Download the AccuWeather Forecast extension (Google Chrome Extensions)
Download the AccuWeather Forecast extension (ChromeExtensions.org)
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Add Weather Forecasts to Google Chrome
Start Portable Firefox in Safe Mode
Jan/100
Have you been wanting the ability to start your portable Firefox installs in Safe Mode? It is a lot simpler than you might think and here is how you do it.
If you have an update to an extension, a change to the settings, or an about:config modification make a mess of your regular Firefox install, then you always have “Safe Mode” to fall back on to help fix the problem.
But what about portable installs? If your portable install becomes a mess you usually just have to replace it. This shortcut modification will give you back that “Safe Mode” goodness and let you work on fixing (and saving) your portable install.
Note: This shortcut modification performed on the Portable Firefox installs from portableapps.com.
Getting Started
The first thing that you will need to do is make a new copy of your current Portable Firefox shortcut. Once you have made a copy (on the Desktop or other location until you finish modifying it), right click on the shortcut and select “Properties”. Once you have selected that, you will see the “Properties” window with the “Shortcut” tab displayed. Now you are ready to modify the “Target Path”.
In the address area for “Target:” you will need to add the following “command” to the end of the target path making certain to leave a single space in between the final quote mark and the “command”.
-safe-mode
So the “Target Path” should look like this:
“C:Program FilesPortable FirefoxFirefoxPortable.exe” -safe-mode
Click “Apply” to finish this part of the shortcut modification.
Next you will need to click on the “General Tab” so that you can add “(Safe Mode)” or other appropriate text to the end of your shortcut’s name to help identify it in your “Start Menu”. Once you have that finished click “OK”. All that you need to do now is add your new “Safe Mode” shortcut to the desired location in your “Start Menu”.
Now you will be able to have access to that wonderful little “Firefox Safe Mode Window” whenever you need it.
Conclusion
If you have been wanting access to “Safe Mode” for your portable Firefox installs when something goes wrong then this is just the solution that you have been waiting for.
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Start Portable Firefox in Safe Mode
Popular Science explains the making of Project Natal
Jan/100
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360
Vaunted science magazine Popular Science got to check out Project Natal at CES, and has posted its own take on the project over on its site. While most of the coverage we’ve seen of Microsoft’s motion controller has been from the gaming press, Pop Sci comes at it from a software engineering perspective. Essentially, Microsoft is trying to build a sophisticated AI that can look at video of what you’re doing in front of a camera, and translate that to information the game can use.
To accomplish that, the coders behind Natal took lots and lots of reference pictures and videos, and they’re still “teaching” the software what it looks like when you try to hit a soccer ball or wave at Milo. It’s fascinating stuff — thirty “guesses” per second at your body’s location and movement based on what the computer “knows” about what bodies look like and how they move, and lots of calculations based on that data. Hopefully by the time it’s supposed to release later this year, Natal will have figured out what it looks like when we melee with a battle rifle.
[Thanks, Wonderflex!]
Popular Science explains the making of Project Natal originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Make Backspace in Windows 7 or Vista Explorer Go Up like XP Did
Jan/100
One of the biggest annoyances for those going straight from XP to Windows 7 is that the backspace key no longer moves you Up a folder like it used to—now it moves you Back in the folder browsing history.
If you’ve used the key a couple of times, you might think I’m wrong—but you can easily test it out by going into one subfolder, then hitting Back, then going into another subfolder and hitting Back, then going into a third subfolder and hitting Back twice. You’ll end up in the previous subfolder.
If you want to go Up a folder in either Windows 7 or Vista, you can use the Alt+Up shortcut key, which will always go to the parent folder.
The Awesome AutoHotkey Fix
Now that we know the shortcut key that actually works in Windows 7, we can use a small script to make it work the way we really want it to. With AutoHotkey installed, create a new script with New –> AutoHotkey Script, and then paste in the following:
#IfWinActive, ahk_class CabinetWClass
Backspace::
?? ControlGet renamestatus,Visible,,Edit1,A
?? ControlGetFocus focussed, A
?? if(renamestatus!=1&&(focussed=”DirectUIHWND3″||focussed=SysTreeView321))
?? {
??? SendInput {Alt Down}{Up}{Alt Up}
? }else{
????? Send {Backspace}
? }
#IfWinActive
Thanks for finding this method goes to joeshmoo from the Productive Geek Forums, who tracked it down buried in an AutoHotkey forum thread. We modified the script slightly to make it work for Windows 7.
How Does This Work?
Ordinarily you can simply re-map the key with a Backspace::!{Up} type of deal, but since the backspace key is useful in the search box, location bar, and when you’re renaming files, you can’t just do a simple mapping—instead you have to check to see which control is active before sending the alternate Alt+Up key combination.
The first line with the #IfWinActive tells AHK to only activate this shortcut key override if Windows Explorer is the active window, which helps fix any possible conflicts in other applications.
The ControlGet and ControlGetFocus lines do the actual work of checking the status of the controls, and then depending on whether they are focused or you are in the process of renaming a file, it either sends the alternate Alt+Up or just sends the regular Backspace key.
Download a Pre-Made Application to Make Backspace Work like XP
Since the majority of you probably aren’t familiar with AutoHotkey, and don’t have any interest in how the scripts work, I’ve put together a customized version of the script as a tiny little executable that will run in the background.
It doesn’t take a ton of memory, as you can see in the screenshot.
To install HTGBack, just download, extract, and then create a shortcut in the shell:startup folder:
Double-click on the executable, and your Backspace key should start working like it used to in XP. Note that we only tested this on Windows 7, but assume it will work for Vista as well.
Download HTGBack XP-Style Backspace Key
This utility is licensed under the don’t-be-stupid license, which says that you can use it, distribute it, and pretty much do whatever you feel like with it—just give us credit by linking back to this post.
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How To Enable Check Boxes for Items In Windows 7
Dec/090
Would you like an easier way to select multiple files in Windows Explorer without having to hold down the “Ctrl” or “Shift” key? Today we take a look at enabling the check boxes feature which might be easier for some users to select multiple items.
I’m sure you’re familiar with selecting multiple files in Explorer by holding down the “Shift” or “Ctrl” key while selecting them with your mouse. Holding down the “Ctrl” key allows you to select multiple single items. Holding down “Shift” lets you select a series of multiple files or folders.
Enable Check Boxes
To enable check boxes, click on Start and and type Folder Options into the search box and hit Enter.
In the Folder Options window click on the View tab, and scroll down under Advanced Settings and check the box next to Use check boxes to select items, the click Apply and Ok.
Now you’ll notice a small check box shows up on next to the item you want to select. With this enabled you don’t need to hold any key on the keyboard, just click to place a checkmark in the box.
Also notice there is a box under the menu bar that will select all items.
It also works for folders…
And on the desktop you can check icons, folders, and files that you want to move to another location.
The check box feature is also available in Vista following the same procedure…enabling them in Folder Options.
This is a neat setting that lets you select multiple items using the mouse without worrying about holding down the correct key on the keyboard. It will work with any view in Explorer but seems to work best with Detailed View
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Skate 3 hands-on: co-op career mode
Feb/100
After an introduction by members of the Black Box development team, we got to team up with a couple other journos and hit the abundant pavement of Port Carverton. We played as the host for a three-player game, and, as such, had the ability to access a sub-menu that showed the various locations within the game world and the team challenge types available at each. We could then either move the team there, or put it up for a vote.
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