Back ups and System restores

Folks, please back up your data.
Once again I have been involved with a system meltdown where there was NO valid back up available.
I was able to salvage some data only after many, many hours and lots of aggravation.
Please don’t let this happen to you.
If people would create, and more importantly follow an effective back up strategy, they (and I) would live a much less stressful life.
There’s one simple rule about backups that everybody needs to fully understand:
Your files should exist in at least Two places, or it’s no longer a backup! Too often people delete files from their primary PC, assuming they are backed up or worse have their back ups located on the same hard drive on the same PC. A different partition of the same physical drive does NOT count. When hard drives fail they usually take the whole drive down including all partitions.
You data must exist in TWO, separate places at once or it is not a back up.
The simplest way is to purchase an external drive that you back up your data to by creating (and appending) disk images (see below for more) on a regular basis. I believe the most effective backups are Images(Clones).

Large external drives are very inexpensive these days. You can pick up a 1TB drive for around $100 or less just about anywhere.
But remember when backing up your data that you can’t delete it from your main system once it’s been backed up to an external drive. By doing that, you’ve left yourself with only a single copy of your important files, on an external drive that has just as much chance of dying as your internal PC hard drive.
So if you have only one external drive remember that.
Or you can go to my paranoid – but outrageously safe, route:
And use at least TWO external drives for image rotations.
I do.
I believe in the ‘grandfather/father/son’ method of backups.
[This is a method for storing previous generations of master file data that are continuously updated. The son is the current file (the one on your pc or data drive for home users), the father is a copy of the file from the previous cycle, and the grandfather is a copy of the file from the cycle before that one.]
I don’t want to be the guy who lost 25 years of family photo’s or my QuickBooks file with 15 years of business data because I didn’t want to spend a little money and time up front to be safe.

Imaging or cloning is the procedure by which you create a backup that is identical to a bootable system either to another (separate) internal or external drive. This is the ultimate backup! Should your drive fail you can just ‘pop in’ your cloned drive or ‘restore’ that clone image to a new (replacement) drive and your are up and running.
Image software makes a full, exact copy of your hard drive— a mirror image of the operating system, software, data, file organization—everything.
Good description here.
The go to software for me is Acronis or Ghost
Both have home and enterprise solutions. I have used them for many years, and continue to use both of them extensively.
For the price it is inexcusable to not have this software and use it regularly in your back up strategy.
For OS X creating an image is very simple process that can be done without any 3rd party software although I do like using SuperDuper. I have covered that in a previous article here.

Some of you may be happy just having your ‘data’ backed up to an external or online storage solution like Dropbox, Mozy, iDrive or Carbonite. There are others search ’em out.
That is fine and good for immediate back ups or access to current documents while traveling. I sometimes do this to between my image/back up schedule or when I am traveling and I know I will not be able to use a secure system.
I also use Microsoft’s SyncToy to mirror my working folders at home to one of my external drives and at work for my working documents and files. This tool has just been update to increase it’s speed and robustness, especially with network attached storage devices (NAS). You can find it here.
Well that’s all for now.
Please people save some grief and back up your data then back that up!
Peace.

Google Docs Exporting

As most of you know I am a huge fan of Google web apps – Gmail, Calendar and Google Docs.
By being available nearly everywhere (with Internet connection that is) they greatly enhance productivity.
Google docs is a great tool for putting up reference information such as technical walk throughs, How-To’s, and documents and forms that are needed all the time from different locaitons and the like.
Because my natural paranoia though, I don’t put up sensitive information into Google Docs. And I download my Gmail a few times a week to Outlook. Google (and all ‘cloud services’ – MSN, Yahoo etc.) go offline or are sometimes not available, and as I have written before, the security risk of the cloud is still very real.

If you have lot’s of documents in Google Docs and you would like to export them Google has made that MUCH easier now.
Now you can export all your documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs from Google Docs in a siungle  ZIP archive.
Perfect for making sure your documents are available whether or not Google is available.
Check out this walk through.
Google Batch Export

Hackintosh x86 News

UPDATE:
For another simple solution to building a ‘Hackintosh’ Lifehacker.com has just posted this updated article on how you can build your own out of a retail Snow Leopard CD and a Dell Mini 10v. It is a super article.
[Again as mentioned by me and in this article. Even though you’re using a standard retail-purchased copy of OS X, the disclaimer: Apple does not like Hackintoshing. It violates the OS X EULA, and probably won’t make the Dell folks too happy either, should you need to return your hacked Mini 9 for service. So, as always, proceed at your own risk.]

There has been a lot of neat stuff happening in the OSX86 world as of late.
As some of you know I have been using Apple’s for over two decades.
And MS Windows (DOS originally) for just as long. I am most certainly not an Apple OR Microsoft fanboy.
I do feel that both have done a good job for their prospective target markets.
What I like about OS X is the ‘under the hood’ stuff that can be done with a little terminal knowledge. The *nix kernal makes configuring and tweaking sooo much easier.
OS X is also easy for some of the ‘less tech savy’ users to learn, and harder to kill. Which makes OS X great for grandma and uncle Argyle.
What aggravates a geek like me is to listen people bash MS and lap up anything Apple. The facts are MS is a software/OS vendor and Apple is an hardware vendor. It was MS software that actually ‘made’ Apple a usable personal computer (PC) don’t forget.
But…
What really sucks though, is to have to shell out 2k for new hardware just to run the new Apple OS every 3 years. It’s true that because Apple controls the ‘whole pie’ their systems tend to ‘just work’, But if you build or buy a high quality PC you can get the same reliability and ease of use at a much lower total cost of ownership.
I have newer Intel Mac and a few older models I use. I just recently upgraded a couple to Snow Leopard and so I now have a couple of retail full install disks and a few upgrade disks sitting here.
I also have a bunch of Virtual Machines on my server I use for testing and support purposes.
Well now to the point.
I think this guys page –
myHack
probably the best site/page I’ve found in a while for building a ‘hackintosh’ from a legit copy of OS X.
The information provided is superb and I look forward to maybe trying some of the tips and tools. It might make your quest for a hackintosh complete. Take a look.
I am also huge fan of the OSx86 project and all the guys who continually work and contribute.
Likewise here are some other great resources:
PCwiz Computer
OSX Freesite
iHackintosh
OSX86Install

You can google/bing your way to TONS more ‘hackintosh’ stuff if you wish.

Well that’s it just thought I’d pass on some info for those of you that might have been lost in their quest to test a Mac 1st hand with out shelling out $1-2k
.
The information provide here is for information purposes only. Since the OSX’ EULA clearly states that you aren’t allowed to install OSX on non-Apple hardware, you aren’t allowed to Install OSX Tiger or Leopard on your regular Windows machine (Intel or AMD, doesn’t matter). This site is in no way liable or responsible for the actions of its visitors. This site takes no responsibility for the information you obtain or use from links provided. You are free to do as you wish but we are not liable for any actions you take.

Google Wave

I have been messing with Wave for a short time now and I can tell you it is ‘neat’, and powerful, but fairly hard for the average joe to understand. I think the potential is huge; if I can just figure out how I will actually use it. 🙂

Google Wave was designed by software engineers to solve a problem that didn’t really exist till they created it. A lot like Twitter. And most of you know how I feel about that. This guy has good rundown of the idiocy of Twitter. But I digress..

Google Wave looks to be a great help to people who regularly and continually need to collaborate in a ‘live’ environment. Like software engineers! Go figure.
It combines a live very powerful Wiki, email and documents in one single point in ‘real time’. For people in businesses that require lots of quick correspondance to work on and complete projects this could be a big help. Likewise for social groups (PTA, Boy Scouts, Soccer Club, Business Alliance etc.) to keep events organized this may prove very powerful.

I like the ability to ‘drag and drop’ files right into a wave.

Here is Google’s best description I’ve seen to date.

LifeHacker has a good post about how people are actually using it in various scenarios here.

It has been hyped to no end by Google and the media. Check it out for your self. You may find a good use for it you may not, who knows.

You may get an invite soon if you are reading this; I ‘nominated’ a lot of my contact list. 🙂

Anyways have fun all.
Peace.

Latest Virtual Machine tools and tips

As some of you know I have been using VMware for years to create and manage virtual machines. It is one of the best ways I know to evaluate operating systems and configurations with out messing up a ‘live’ system. Using VMware (and the VMWare converter) I can also convert Acronis images to Virtual machines, enabling me to test service pack updates and application upgrades. I even have several OS X VM’s I use too. Look here and here.

I also use Virtual Server 2005R2 on my server/home workdation (for XP it’s called MS virtual PC 2005) and now Hyper V for 2008 server. Using MS Virtual server I have been able to download and evaluate various full blown MS products extremely easily by just downloading a pre-made VHDs from MS and adding them to the virtual server. Things like, Win2008R2, Exchange 2007 and 2010, SQL2008 and many more operating systems applications and configurations.

There is now an updated tool available from Sysinternals (who where swallowed up by MS) to actually create complete VHD’s (virtual hard drives) from your existing running systems!
These can be used as backups, for fail over safety, or testing purposes too. The vhd’s can be added to Virtual server, Virtual PC and Hyper V VERY easily. And they will not require another activation as is nearly always necessary when using VMware.

Here is very good article from LifeHacker with a quick rundown of it:
http://lifehacker.com/5377399/disk2vhd-turns-your-pc-into-a-virtual-machine

This article prompted me to revisit this, so I decided to see how well it would work with my office machine, which I just happened to have sitting on my desk here at home.
I downloaded and copied the new Disk2vhd app to the laptop, ran the application to create the vhd and saved the vhd to a share on my home server. After the vhd was created I launched the MS Virtual Server Administration console on my server (a localmachine website), ‘created’ a new vm and added the vhd, set up the network options and started it.
And bam, it works like a champ! I was even able to connect from the VM to my office via VPN and run my ‘Cisco SoftPhone’!

Now, if you have no desire to try this just take off now, sorry for wasting your time.
But for any of you fellow techies that want to learn or experience something new, here is more info.
Latest version of Disk2vhd:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx

MS VirtualPC 2007:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/virtual-pc-2007.aspx

or:Virtual Server 2005 R2:Info:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/

More info:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualserver/default.aspx

Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID;=bc49c7c8-4840-4e67-8dc4-1e6e218acce4

Or if you are already using Windows 2008 Server you can use Hyper V:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/default.aspx

As always if you do not understand something, take the time to read about it and learn it. If you still don’t get it, read some more. Maybe a lot more. If you try something and is doesn’t work. Try this http://www.google.com/ and type in your question. But don’t type it to me 🙂

Other notes:If you don’t have a modern machine with modern processor (Intel core2duo, Athlon multi-core or better) and plenty of RAM, don’t even think about trying to create a virtual machines. It will be slower than a 1995 Packard Bell.

Peace

OS X Security and Malware

Please folks practice safe computing – keep your systems up to date, don’t install pirated software (including music and videos), clear your browser cache often, and don’t install ‘helpers’ or ‘codecs’ you cannot thoroughly verify.
Using the line, “I have a Mac I don’t get worms or virus’ etc.” is not only naively silly, it can also be costly.
Remember OS X is built on a Unix foundation and Unix has been around since 1969! So you can bet as the Mac user population increases the number of hacks ‘ported’ to OS X will start to grow exponentially. That coupled with the Apple’s misleading marketing campaign saying, “Mac’s don’t get virus’ etc.” often leads to poor computing habits that can, and I am sure will be exploited more and more.
So keep safe out here.
Some scary info:
http://www.sophos.com/blogs/sophoslabs/v/post/4811

http://www.sophos.com/blogs/sophoslabs/v/post/3710

Peace out

Change Login Image OSX

Change your Login background Image with a single “Drag-and-Drop” with this tool
http://www.loginox.branox.com/

Or you can do it ‘manually’ by using the terminal:
Find a desktop wallpaper image, save it to your desktop as background.jpg, and in the Terminal enter:
sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg.old

You’ll have to enter your password to complete the operation. Then, in your Desktop directory in the Terminal, type:
sudo cp background.jpg /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg

Now, next time you log off, your logon screen will have your new custom background. To undo the operation, in the Terminal, type:
sudo cp /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg.old /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg

Alternately, you can modify your logon background by changing a preference versus overwriting the file.
Here’s the command:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow DesktopPicture “/Library/Desktop Pictures/Aqua Blue.jpg”Substitute “/Library/Desktop Pictures/Aqua Blue.jpg”
with the path to the picture you want to use.
This technique works in both Leopard and Tiger.

Share External Mac Volumes

If you have a mixed environment of PC’s – MS Windows and Macintosh, it can be tough to configure access to shared resources on shared machines.
Sure you might think OSX can do this with the ‘Windows File Sharing’ but you are limited to the ‘home’ folder.
Sharing a Windows folder or drive is actually fairly simple and straight forward.
Here is a great tutorial from Lifehacker on how to mount Windows shared folders in OSX:

http://lifehacker.com/software/mac-os-x/how-to-mount-a-windows-shared-folder-on-your-mac-247148.php

But what about sharing other (like external drives) resources on you Mac with other Macs and PC’s
By that I mean what happens if one of your Mac’s used for Graphic Arts or Pre Press has external drives that need to be shared to other Mac’s and PC’s
I have found VERY few articles that describe this easily and succinctly in over a decade of working with Mac’s.
So here is what has worked for me.:
——————————————
You can share any volumes on the Mac, USB, Firewire and other internal drives etc.

First TURN OFF WINDOWS FILE SHARING in the System Preferences.
I find the first example works best for me most of the time.
Then Go to Applications

Then Utilities and find the Terminal application and open it.

Open Terminal and type;

cd /etc

sudo pico smb.conf

———————————————————-

You’ll be prompted for the password.

Then scroll down to the end of the options and add something like this below:

[BIG EXTERNAL]

comment = BIG EXTERNAL

path = /Volumes/BIG EXTERNAL/

browsable = yes

public = yes

read only = no

Or maybe like this:

[USB]

comment = USB Drive

path = /Volumes/USB Drive name

valid users = joe user

public = no

writable = yes

printable = no

When done making your changes, hit Control-O to write changes to disk (save additions to smb.conf file) and press Return when prompted for a file name. The hit Control-X to quit pico and close the Terminal window.

Now go to your Window PCs and try and ‘browse’ the network and find your shares.
——————————————————

To share additional folders, duplicate the section above — but change the name, comment, and path for each new folder.
I have used this and veriations of this technique for years with great success.
Hope this helps you get productive.

Ok now what if you need to mount an NTFS volume ‘in’ OS X?
There are a few solutions.
This one is condensed from tips from MacOSXHints:

Snow Leopard has the ability to mount NTFS volumes as read/write, but it’s not enabled by default — just read only is supported, as in 10.5. Here’s how to get full read/write support for NTFS drives in Snow Leopard.
First, uninstall NTFS-3G or Paragon if you’re using either one!

Here’s how to get read/write support for NTFS drives in Snow Leopard:

1. In Terminal, type diskutil info /Volumes/volume_name, where volume_name is the name of the NTFS volume. From the output, copy the Volume UUID value to the clipboard.

2. Back up /etc/fstab if you have it; it shouldn’t be there in a default install.

3. Type sudo nano /etc/fstab.

4. In the editor, type UUID=, then paste the UUID number you copied from the clipboard. Type a Space, then type none ntfs rw. The final line should look like this: UUID=123-456-789 none ntfs rw, where 123-456-789 is the UUID you copied in the first step.

5. Repeat the above steps for any other NTFS drives/partitions you have.

6. Save the file and quit nano (Control-X, Y, Enter), then restart your system.

After rebooting, NTFS partitions should natively have read and write support.
This works with both 32- and 64-bit kernels. Support is quite good and fast, and it even recognizes file attributes such as hidden files.
[There may be good reasons why Apple left support disabled, so use at your own risk!]

Another solution that may be simpler is to use this utility which ‘puts’ a GUI onto the above style tweak.

Anyhow I hope this helps