Showing posts with label Personal Experience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal Experience. Show all posts

2014/04/24

How to print together multiple documents and files (PDF, DOC, XLS, DWG) or photos (JPG, BMP, PNG)?

Here some recurrent question:

  • Can I print multiple PDF documents at once?
  • Can you print multiple documents without opening them?
  • How do I put multiple files into one PDF?


Do you need to automatically print multiple documents, present in a folder, without opening them?

On Windows 98, XP, VISTA there is not natively a function like that, so you need to use a third-party software.
Print Conductor is an utility that do this and I tried! It works very well and it's free!



You must download and install the software application, then you create the list of files to be sequentially printed by selecting the files with the dialog box "Open File", or dragging them with drag and drop, or by automatic scanning of a specific folder. You can also choose different folders or files of different types from those available.



Print Conductor supports 26 different types of documents, here they are: 
  • Adobe ® PDF files, 
  • Microsoft ® Word DOC and DOCX documents, 
  • Microsoft ® Excel XLS and XLSX spreadsheets, 
  • Microsoft ® PowerPoint PPT and PPTX presentations, 
  • Microsoft ® Visio VSD drawings, Publisher PUB files, 
  • Autodesk AutoCAD ® DXF and DWG drawings, 
  • OpenOffice ODT documents, 
  • JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, PCX, TGA, DCX and BMP images, 
  • XPS, SVG, TXT, WRI, RTF and HTML files.

Print Conductor can print documents on any printer:
  • Local printer,
  • Network printer,
  • Virtual printer.

Also, you can change the configuration of the printer selection before starting the printing process.

WARNING: The only condition you must abide is that on your PC, you must have already installed all the applications you normally use to open the same documents that you would like to print automatically. 
So for example, to print CAD files (DXF or DWG), you must have installed AutoCAD, to print Word or Excel files you must have a suite of Office installed, to print PDF files you must have Adobe Reader pre-installed, and so on.

The free version of Print Conductor has no limitation of use., but  insert a page of advertising in the print queue of your printer. Commercial version doesn't print advertising pages.

Print Conductor works well on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. 
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2012 are supported, too. 

[Link features] Print Conductor features
[Download] Print Conductor

If you have Windows 7, 8 or 10 you can use this convenient feature natively in the operating system. Just open the folder containing the file to be printed and select those that interest you. To select multiple files with the mouse at the same time hold down the SHIFT key if they are contiguous instead if there are NOT contiguous hold the CTRL key. Immediately after you click on it with the right mouse button and select the item Print in the context menu. The important thing is that all the files must to be of the same type and NOT to be mixed (only PDF, only WORD, only EXCEL, etc..) The only downside is that the files are sent to print directly to the default printer, and then you can not choose your printer from the menu. With this method, normally you can select up to 15 files contemporary to print. 

An alternative method, with Windows Seven, is to search for the printer on "Devices and Printers" in the Start menu. Click with the right mouse button on the selected printer, then select "See what's printing" in the context menu. 
When appears the "queues" window of the printer, that you have chosen, you can drag and drop the files to print. 
Then another dialog box will appear asking if you want to "print multiple files at once." 
By clicking on 'Yes' all the files will be opened and printed in their entirety, with the default settings. With this method it is possible to mix different types of files! This method does NOT have limits on the number of files to be printed simultaneously.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: 
Print Conductor is intuitive to use and effective, I like it very much!
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2014/03/17

NAS4Free: the heir of FreeNAS 0.7, an Open Source Network Disk

NAS4Free version 9.2.1 is a free distribution of FreeBSD 9 that has been optimized to provide a service of Network Attached Storage (NAS) or external network drive. It is a software distribution that can be installed on your obsolete computers and turns them into storage disks with redundancy and security features often available only on paid and high-end products!
NAS4Free logo

I have already reviewed a previous version of FreeNAS (exactly the versions 0.7.x and previous in FreeNAS - How to create a network drive free), but since then there has been a fork of the project by the new partner / sponsor iXsystems, which has brought several changes, so now there are two types of products: 

a) FreeNAS 9.1.1 - which is a new project, always open source, completely renovated and improved both in graphic and in functionality and that is managed by iXsystems which bought the brand FreeNAS in 2011. 

b) NAS4Free 9.2.1 - the direct heir of the old FreeNAS version 0.7, which has been renamed and is developed and maintained by a team of volunteers and also Open Source.

NAS4Free volume manager


NAS4Free 9.2.1 supports data sharing systems: Windows, Apple, and UNIX / LINUX

Hard disks and volumes can be managed with:
  • ZFS v.28 (RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, RAIDZ3), 
  • Software RAID (0,1,5) or mix (1+0,1+1, ecc…), 
  • disk encryption (with adapter hardware acceleration if available),
  • Filesystem ZFS v.28, UFS, Ext2/3, FAT, NTFS, 
  • Partition (MBR andGPT)
  • iSCSI (initiator), 


Supports the following network protocols:
  • SMB/CIFS (samba3, samba2, samba) 4.1.5, 
  • AFP (Netatalk), 
  • NFS, 
  • FTP (ProFTPD), 
  • TFTP (tftp-hpa), 
  • RSYNC (client / server), 
  • Unison, 
  • SCP (SSH)
  • iSCSI (target), 


The Extra Services available are:
  • UPnP server (FUPPES), 
  • BitTorent client (transmission)
  • iTunes/DAAP server (Firefly),
  • Webserver (Lighttpd),
  • Network Bandwidth measure (IPERF),


About Networking:
  • 802.1q vlan tagging,
  • Wireless,
  • link aggregation,
  • Wake On Lan,
  • Bridge
  • CARP (Common Address Redundancy Protocol)
  • HAST (Highly Available Storage)


About monitoring::
  • S.M.A.R.T (smartmontools)
  •  E-mail notification
  • SNMPSyslog
  • UPS (NUT) 

Everything is configurable through its web interface.

NAS4Free 9.2.1 can be installed on Compact Flash memory / USB / SSD and HDD, or it can be started on LIVE CD and can use a small USB key to store the configuration data. Also exists in two versions: 
  • 32bit, with which you will be able to use the hardware with MAX 4 GB of RAM
  • 64bit, with which you can install and use more than 4GB of RAM

Despite having improved compatibility with newer hardware (thanks to an upgrade of the operating system) remains compatible hardware "obsolete" and therefore suitable for use on a PC also "very old" for their re-use. Here is the list of compatible hardware supported
The user interface (GUI) has undergone a makeover but remains very similar to the previous version. 
Among the goodies available, there is also the possibility of installing an LCD panel that displays in real time the most important information, and that is managed through the service LCDproc.

NAS4Free 9.2.1 adds support for SMB3, the ability for FreeNAS to be a Windows Domain Controller, and advanced features like server-side copy support in Windows 2012 and later.

[Source:] NAS4Free

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE :
I recently upgraded an older PC (already used as FreeNAS ) and consists of an Intel Pentium III with about 704 MB of RAM, reformatting and passing from the old to the new FreeNAS 0.69 NAS4Free 9.1. Because I thought that the hardware of this particular PC was NOT suitable for use as Zettabyte File System ( ZFS), due to the limited RAM and processor 32-bit inappropriate, I decided to fall back on a simple RAID 1 volume mounted on two SATA disks and shared with the service through Windows CIFS / Samba. Everything works great !
Also on this NAS4Free also use the service RSYNC client to synchronize the contents of a folder on disk to another PC version of FreeNAS 0.69 ( so for now not yet updated ) .

For some years now I'm running some old converted PC , here's the list :
n.2 - FreeNAS 0.69.2 PC - Intel Pentium 3
n.1 - FreeNAS 0.7.2 PC - Intel Pentium 3
n.1 - NAS4Free 9.1 PC - Intel Pentium 3 (*** Updated ***)
n.1 - FreeNAS 8.3.1 PC - Intel Pentium 4 (*** new project created by the fork ! ***)
Until now ... I was very pleased with their behavior !

One of the features I like the most in these products ( FreeNAS and NAS4Free ) is the ability to upgrade the firmware ( or the whole operating system software ) without having to reformat the whole thing!
Another feature important to me , is the presence of both an editor of an internal file manager, which eventually delete or modify files and folders that you do not have permissions to the share level .
NAS4Free has developed very good diagnostic functions and LOG disks , and the system.

Now some advice about the options in the BIOS of the PC:
If you can enable BIOS to automatically start the PC every day at a set time , so if you miss the current PC would restart by itself at the latest the next day!
Select the option that indicates hardware failures other than the keyboard , or "ALL, but keyboard" , so you can run the PC without having to connect a keyboard .
Disable the cache VIDEO or otherwise any kind of cache memory that subtracts the main RAM , since in any case there would benefit significantly to the functioning of the operating system.
Update of 03/09/2013 : Occasionally you have to upgrade the operating system of yours NAS devices in order to fix bugs and possibly take advantage of the new features implemented. So I proceeded to upgrade to one of the 5 NAS systems that use. In particular, I updated the software on the NAS already mounted NAS4Free 9.1.0.1 (revision 531) NAS4Free to version 9.1.0.1 (revision 847) using the function updates the firmware. I did not expect any particular problems in upgradin , in fact everything went well , very fast!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



How would you like it to be improved on this article? 
Leave me a comment with your thoughts or requests!

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2013/10/04

HDD LLF: how to low level format the Hard Disk

HDD Low Level Format is a free software tool ( for personal / home use only ) that allows the Low-Level Format (LLF) of hard disks (and mass storage devices in general).
What is LLF
"Typically this involved subdividing each track on the disk into one or more blocks which would contain the user data and associated control information. Different computers used different block sizes and IBM notably used variable block sizes but the popularity of the IBM PC caused the industry to adopt a standard of 512 user data bytes per block by the middle 1980s. " Source Wikipedia English

HDD- LLF has the following characteristics :
  • Supported interfaces: S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, SAS, USB, FIREWIRE.
  • Big drives (LBA-48) are supported.
  • Supported Manufacturers: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western Digital, and almost any other not listed here.
  • The program also supports low-level formatting of FLASH cards (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash) using a card-reader.


HDD- LLF can also work with external drives connected via USB, and Firewire as well as with supports SD , MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash .
There is also an option to quickly delete the partitions and the sector MBR (Master Boot Record) of HDDs .
The utility is available in two versions: can be installed on Windows or directly executed ( portable).

WARNING: After running this low level format tool, the whole disk surface will be erased.
Data restoration is impossible after using this utility!


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE :
I used HDD- LLF for low-level format an external drive connected with USB no longer wanted to learn to operate and above who do not " want to be" formatted by Windows. With both Windows XP and Seven, the format utility (which try to format only high-level) returned an error message and did not proceed . With HDD- LLF I managed to break the deadlock and then, through the utility of Windows XP " DISK MANAGEMENT " , I was able to format ( high-level) disk with the NTFS file system and now it works !
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2013/09/30

Skype Phone without a PC? Choose a RTX DUALPHONE 4088 Cordless Phone

The latest model of the Cordless Phone RTX is currently the DUALPHONE 4088. It can be simultaneously connected to two phone lines: 1 terrestrial analogue PSTN telephone line cable with RJ-11 and 1 VOIP (SKYPE) line through a RJ-45 cable and an internet connection. In this way, you can choose at any time which line is more convenient to use between the available for outgoing calls and you can be reached on two contemporary lines  with a single incoming phone.

DUALPHONE 4088.

One of the most important features of DUALPHONE 4088 is that to use, simply connect it with an ethernet cable (RJ-45) to a modem / router with ADSL internet connection FLAT broadband, so it is not necessary the connection to a PC (as required, for example, by the previous model DUALPHONE RTX-3045 ). 
The DUALPHONE 4088 allows you to receive automatically updates of the phone software (firmware) so it can be corrected and improved by the manufacturer if SKYPE modifies some functions! 
It also has a color LCD to better appreciate the characteristics of SKYPE (status icons, photos and pictures of the account) and allows you to manage 2 SKYPE account on the same phone!



PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: 
As previously said, I find it very useful and advantageous to have a cordless phone that can also use SKYPE without being connected to a PC, and this is precisely the DUALPHONE 4088! Furthermore it uses standard AAA batteries (not proprietary batteries) 
The Dualphone RTX 4088 is a good product but beware of the firmware versions you have on your phone or you may encounter some problems in configuring it. In fact, the phone works fine if the router / modem that handles the connection to the internet has preset the DHCP . 
To check it go to menu -> settings -> advanced -> internet settings 
check if  the way IP is set to Dynamic or Static 
The phone usually is preset to use the 'dynamic addressing' using just DHCP, but if you need to change the address from dynamic to static (you have to assign static IP addresses on your phone, the primary and secondary DNS, and default gateway) you have to keep in mind that with the firmware version 141 ... simply DOES NOT WORK! The phone accepts the input data (IP address, sub mask, primary dns, secondary dns, default gateway) but after saving everything the 0.0.0.0 static IP address appears again and a "network not connected" message is displayed! Unfortunately I lost several hours to try and try again, searching on the internet and calling for service, but there is nothing to do! However, it has been illuminating a telephone interview with the Italian seller (who was already awared of the problem but not of the solution). Several weeks later the confirmation came to me directly from the technical support of RTX, which confirmed the presence of the bug and its correction took effect in the fimware version 167 and later. 
The solution is to update the firmware to the latest available firmware version (currently version 171BEFORE and to do so you have to leave the dynamic addressing and connect the phone to a router with an enabled DHCP service. Only AFTER the update of the firmware to version 171, you can configure static IP addressing  of the phone, and then ... yes it works! 
A small gem: by pressing the menu button of the phone and typing the key sequence 1-3-9-7-5  a new menu with all the available firmware versions (beta included) is shown.  

Finally here is the list of steps to do if you wish to reset the phone to the factory settings

1) Base: Power on the base station and place a network cable in the base
2) Base: Press the reset button for 15 sec. ( the LED should flash shortly at 10 sec, but just be sure to press it for 15 sec. )
3) Base: Wait 10 min until the base station lights
4) Handset: Reset Handset – Menu –settings – advanced –reset
5) Base: Press the reset button (1 sec) again on the base station to enable the registration mode
6) Handset: Place the handset on charger, now it starts searching for open base station (if the handset still cannot find the base station, please try again from step 4 – 6 and put the handset on charger immediately after the base station enters to registration mode on step 5)
7) When the base station is found – follow the instructions described on the screen.

ATTENTION: due to a firmware or software (skype) upgrade is possible at times that some menus of the phone get stuck and not be able to access some functions. In these cases, prior to the RESET of the phone you can groped a less busy street just off the equipment. For example, on a phone that has always worked correctly, at one point, I happened to click on the CONTACT menu and instead of seeing the list of phone numbers, was shown the message "Download Contacts" forever! Probably in that case the phone was unable to communicate properly with its main base to retrieve the list of contacts, even though it was still possible to make and receive calls and access other menus without any problems. It was enough to turn off the phone AND EVEN the main base for a few minutes. Then the phone has started to function properly, allowing me to access the menu CONTACTS.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

2013/09/20

How to access and control a remote PC? Software and services to access a computer remotely

Here some recurrent questions:

  • How can I remotely access another computer?
  • Is it safe to let someone remotely access my computer?
  • How can I remotely control a computer?
  • How do I control someone else's computer?
  • What is the best way to remote into a computer?

In a company, the 'system administrator' often needs (for maintenance or assistance) the access to one computer (host) or more PC which are physically located far from where he works (e.g. remote servers). 
Some software companies and computer services use Virtual Network Computing (VNC) technology to provide remote tele-assistance to its customers via Internet. 
Moreover, a home user can benefit from 'remote access' as such he can works on his office PC from the comfort of his own home PC (smartworking or tele-working)! 
To fulfill all these tasks there are specific software and services (both free and with fee) suitable for the purpose. 

What are the most suitable services and software to access and controlPC remotely ?
1) Software with remote access via the local area network (LAN)
On Microsoft's Operative Systems Windows XP Professional and latest there is the function "Remote Desktop Connection"   
You must first enable the Windows host PC: e.g. on Windows 7, click on the Windows Start button and select Computer voice with the right button of the mouse, then click the Properties option. In the opening window, click on the item Remote settings. Click the radio button "Allow Remote Assistance connections to the computer and select" either "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop" (less secure) and "Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication" (more secure). The first is less secure but allows you to receive remote assistance from any version of Windows, the second is more secure but allows you to receive remote assistance only from other computers with Windows 7.
At this point you can remotely control the PC via another PC on the same local area network LAN. You just have to launch the Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection client software (start -> all programs -> accessories), enter the name or IP address of the PC you want to control and then the access credentials (username and password). 

There are other VNC softwares free or with fee, for Windows, Linux, Apple   which, once installed on the host PC, allow you to remotely take control of it. Here are some examples: 
2) Software and Services with remote access via the Internet.  
In essence are websites that offer limited free services or unlimited services with fee that allow you to register an account and assign it to one or more host PC. Usually to "assign" the PC account you need to download and install a special software. Finally, to use the service you have to authenticate via web browser and access to a Remote Desktop Manager page, and you can choose which PC to activate and use it remotely. 
Some of these services are available in:
In other cases it is sufficient to download a software (client / server) to run both on the PC by remote control, and on the PC that you use to log in and control. 
For example, in telecare enough that the customer notifies the operator login code and password shown on your screen when the application software, and from that moment on, the operator can access the client PC and work quietly in remotely to provide the requested assistance. 
With some types of software you can also permanently install the application on the PC (host) and immediately access to the remote PC without typing the password and without the presence of a user for authentication (PC unattended). 
Here are some examples of software:
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
As a system administrator it is helpful to have more access doors, so you might want to enable Remote Desktop on any PC on the network, and activate a service such as LogMein for access from the outside via the Internet. For those not satisfied and wanting to further access to the PC via a local network, you can also install UltraVNC VNC software and related services on a PC on the LAN.

These softwares and / or remote access services, often have additional features specially designed for tele-working, tele-assistance and for the management and maintenance of computer systems such as some of the following functions: 
  • Chat to communicate with the client by exchanging short text messages.
  • VOIP function to communicate by voice with the customer.
  • File Transfer to copy or synchronize files from your local PC to the remote one (and vice versa).
  • Remote Printing to print files from a remote computer to a local printer.
  • Remote Management to display the events, and to start and stop the services of the remote PC.
  • Sharing the Desktop to show the others what you are viewing on your Desktop.
  • the ability to access remotely using your smartphone.
  • Optimization features to improve the quality of the connection or the speed of the connection,
  • Update function and remote monitoring to keep track of all the hardware and software of the host PC and update the O.S. remotely.
  • Remote Desktop Manager that shows all PC remotely available.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2013/09/16

DUALphone RTX-3045 and the "Skype is not connected" problem?

The Du@lphone RTX 3045 is a cordless phone for SKYPE able to work with a standard analog phone line. In fact it is a product that has a bit dated, but that can still be used if appropriately updated.
Du@lphone RTX 3045

To use the DUALphone in analog mode, simply connect the base of the telephone, to the phone jack with a telephone cable (RJ11). Instead, for use it with SKYPE you must connect the base via USB to a PC on which you must also install the DUALphone Suite software and the Skype software.

[Link] Dualphone

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: 
Du@lphone RTX 3045 is now a product outdated and no longer in production so after  you have installed the software, it is possible that DUALphone Suite software (eg version 2.08) is not sufficiently updated to work with the latest version of SKYPE (currently version 6.7). Usually appears the message "Skype is not connected" and the DualPhone does not work with Skype. 
However, I verified that the DUALphone Suite software version 2.39 instead works with Skype! You can find it here. It also rewrite your phone's firmware updating to version 0.151.

See also: Skype Phone without a PC? Choose a RTX DUALPHONE 4088 Cordless Phone
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2013/06/26

2013: Kingsoft Office Free / Professional

I had already written about this product for the office, and even then I was very excited, (see this post: New: "Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012", but the new 2013 version has exceeded improvements in the previous !

Kingsoft Office 2013 has totally changed its graphical interface to align with the new standards of similar products competitors, so it looks very much like the so-called "Ribbon"  interface of Microsoft Office 2007/2010. However, you can also set the old interface similar to Microsoft Office 2003.
The software has a built-in PDF converter and an automatic spell check!




The compatibility with Microsoft products is always the first place:
Kingsoft Writer Professional 2013 is fully compatible with Microsoft Word 2007/2010.
Input file format: (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) doc, docx & dot.
Output file format: (97/2000/2003) doc & dot.

Kingsoft Office 2013 exists in two versions: totally Free fo personal use, and Professional ($ 69.95). In this table you can see the differences between the editions.

[Source LinkKingsoft Office 2013 Free
[Source Link] Release History

Updated 18/10/2013
Kingsoft Office exists in a "reduced" version for Android systems, and is an alternative to Microsoft Office for Tablet.
[Link] Kingsoft Office for Android Free

Updated 3/11/2013
There is also free Kingsoft Office for LINUX (in alpha).
[Link] Kingsoft Office for Linux Alpha version 12 patch 2 - Free.


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
In my opinion the compatibility with Microsoft products has increased. In particular, examining some Excel files I noticed that some features such as Macro, notes and graphics, in the 2012 version were still partly incompatible, while in this 2013 version were fully compatible! Some Powerpoint files very large (with many photos and effects) are now handled correctly.
In addition to compatibility with read and write files to DOC and DOCX, I point out the extreme compatibility with RTF (Rich Text Format)
An other peculiarity is thas the suite is smaller (50 MB) and faster than most other office suites. 
The only downside now is always the same, or the lack of the other language (non english)!
However, there is the possibility of including a spelling dictionary ! To download and install it, follow the instructions (in Italian) provided by Kingsoft hereof other languages.
There is a support with questions and answers in English on the website of Kingsoft. Also on this web page are available some user guides  of all the products of the office suite (both in PDF and browsable online).
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED