Microsoft have published a 22 Page PDF document that is a great read for those struggling with all the tech jargon you encounter when trying to buy a laptop today.

I’m not really sure why Microsoft are publishing this kind of content but never the less its actually quite good.

It covers:-

Price, Weight, Speed, Storage, Screen Size, Ports, Video, CD/DVD, Operating System (can you guess which one?) and a handy 10 questions you should ask.

Link: Help Guide (Link is a PDF)

Microsoft have just released the updated version of their free file sync application called SyncToy.

The current version is 2.0, There was a beta version of 2.0 available for some time but this marks latest stable release version.

SyncToy is great at keeping folders and files in sync on two machines.

Example

A Desktop PC’s My Documents Folder

to a

Laptop My Documents Folder

I use SyncToy to do just that. I keep all my files on my Desktop PC and when I go mobile I do a quick Sync to my laptop ensuring it’s up to date.

SyncToy looks at the files in both locations and only copies across files that have changed.

Another practical application would be keeping picture files/folders up to date on various machines.

Download Link: Link

Documentation PDF: Link

Forums: Link

SyncToy is a freebie from Microsoft so don’t expect any technical support.

Important Note for existing SyncToy Users Upgrading:

“If upgrading from an earlier version of SyncToy (e.g. SyncToy 1.4 or SyncToy 2.0 Beta), it is **CRITICAL** to ensure that all folder pairs are fully synchronized using the previous version before running SyncToy 2.0 setup. Not following this guideline can lead to unintended behavior and partial data loss when running SyncToy 2.0 for the first time after upgrade. All folder pairs must also be fully synchronized at least once right after the upgrade is done.”

I provide technical support for several hundred users both locally and remotely. In an ideal world they would have all their software repositories nice and organised.

Example: Envelopes with usernames containing all the CD’s, Licenses and Product keys that belong to that particular PC.

Sadly life isn’t like that and I am usually under pressure to quickly rebuild and redeploy on the same hardware say after a Hard Disk problem or Virus/Malware attack.

So today’s tech tip is for a download that exposes the current machines product keys.

On my USB key I keep install repositories for common software installations, I then grab the product keys from current machine using keyfinder (link below) and save time by not having to root about the customers cupboards.

Link: http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Mozilla are releasing the latest version of their very popular Internet Browser: Firefox.

They are attempting a World Record for the most downloads in a single day.

In the UK the download should be available about 5pm.

Congratulations to Mozilla for getting Version 3.0 out the door.

I spend about 50% of my time in Firefox and the other in IE7 so I am looking forward to the new version.

Link: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

Google have updated their easy to read guide “Making the Most of your Content”.

It comprises a 13 page PDF that explains in easy to understand language some of the more complicated aspects of what Google does with your content in their search engine.

Ideal for anyone who has an interest in these things.

The last page is a Glossary explaining all the terms like Crawling and Page Rank.

Link: http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/press/files/webmaster-guide-en.pdf

You can download this from the link below.

What this does is make it really easy for you to backup your Outlook PST (Personal Folders).

Installation

1) Download Link: Outlook Personal Folder Backup

Note: You will have to run an Office Validation tool to ensure your version of Office is legal.

2) Download the File then install it.

Tip: What it does is install an extra option on the Outlook File menu called Backup. See Below

When you go into File > Backup you will see the box below.

Options: This lets you set where the backup file is to go and how often you want to backup.

Save Backup: This tells Outlook to run the backup on your next exit (of Outlook).

Open Backup: This allows you to browse to the location of previous backups.

Lets have a look in Options

You can set a reminder

If you have more than one Personal Folder you can select/de-select

File Location: You can browse to a location where you want your outlook to backup to.

Tip: Make the location either a server location or USB external media, something other that on your own location computer.

Running the backup

When you click Save Backup the next time you exit Outlook the backup will take place. What it does is copy your outlook pst data file to the location you told it in Options. It cannot do this while outlook is running. You will see the box below.

Finally

They don’t give you a nice “Backup Complete” Dialogue box but if you go check the location you told it to use you will find your outlook backup file.

I came across this handy utility that can recover content from word documents that are corrupt.

The company behind it Get Data offer a range of recovery products but offer the Repair My Word tool for free.

It supports Word: 6.0, 95, 97, 200, XP and 2003. In Word 2007 the file formats changed to XML so I can understand why that’s unsupported in this release.

So if you have a problem opening a problem word document check out Repair My Word on the link below.

Link: http://www.repairmyword.com/

A common problem you have when your PC’s hard disk is filling up is trying to locate where all the large files are on the computers file system.

For the last few years I have used a free simple utility called TreeSize from Jam Software.

What TreeSize V2.1 does is show you visually where the large files and folders are located.

When you run TreeSize it can take a few moments to figure it all out, especially on large hard disks.

Tip: If you are planning on doing some file management remember to backup important files first.

Check out TreeSize on the link below.

Link: http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

Last week I wrote a post that skirted over the issue of backing up your digital memories on-line.

I cant say enough how important it is that you consider a solution for keeping these precious memories safe.

Now Google’s Picasa is a great way to manage your pictures. You  can catalogue, tag and upload your photo albums online. You can even choose from a dozen photo effects. Picasa is great and its free.

Now if you have a Google account (also free) they give you 1gb of storage on Picasa Web Albums.

1gb for free is generous and as you need more Google will offer you additional storage at fixed price points.

I chose the 10gig plan at $20 a year. 

I really get two things for my money.

1) Off site backup.

2) The ability to share web albums online. The system will give you links that contain authentication codes that are unique to you and would not be easy to guess. From an ease of use perspective this is fantastic.

In terms of backup I still recommend you keep two copies locally. One on a PC and one on an external hard disk.

You don’t want to be the digital curator having to explain why you lost the irreplaceable.

The Picasa uploader seems very robust, I pointed it at a local folder with 866 photo’s and left it going and it uploaded all of them successfully.

Tip: In Picasa Web Albums you can have up to 1000 photo’s in each album, this is great for uploading but when looking at albums online this can be a problem. So a smaller number like 200 might be better.

When I looked at who offered online backup for photo’s I trusted Google’s Picasa more than Microsoft’s SkyDrive or the Yahoo owned Flickr. If you don’t like Picasa then I would say Flickr would be your next best bet.

Link: Picasa

If you need to purchase some royalty free images for use on your website or other activities like printed brochures a great site to checkout is http://www.istockphoto.com

They have in excess of 2 million images organised into categories.

For a brief time they have a offer of 20% off your first order.

You need to visit the via this link: http://www.istockphoto.com/twitstock

I heard about this offer on this podcast: http://www.twit.tv/128