Windows Secrets readers often send in recommendations for utilities they find particularly useful.
In some cases, “useful” is in the eye of the beholder; here’s a professional reviewer’s take.
Business-level backups — for the rest of us
I’ll confess — in one particular way, I was a typical PC user: I didn’t back up my notebook as often as I should have. As a tech journalist of long standing, my lapse was especially inexcusable: I knew several effortless ways of making automated backups. My slacker ways suddenly changed when a motherboard blowout left much of my data as so much digital dust.
As has been noted numerous times in Windows Secrets, image backups — complete copies of entire hard drives — are an essential part of protecting your system. (Selective backups effectively archive changes between image backups.) The more recent an image backup, the faster you can restore your entire system (OS, settings, apps, and user data) following a catastrophic system failure.
There’s no shortage of drive-imaging applications. I discussed one of the more popular products — True Image — in the May 2 Best Software column, “Utilities for better productivity and security.” But based on a reader recommendation, I took a look at StorageCraft’s ShadowProtect Desktop 5 (SPD5; site). At U.S. $90 (30-day trial), ShadowProtect Desktop is pricey; but it’s also surprisingly versatile and powerful — well suited to all but the most casual PC user.
For less technically adept users, SPD5 offers easy-to-follow wizards (see Figure 1) and scheduling option boxes (see Figure 2) to step you through drive imaging and restoration. For advanced users, it offers more specialized tools for working with backup images.
Figure 1. ShadowProtect Desktop is an exceptionally versatile and fully featured Windows backup system.
Figure 2. SPD5's simple but flexible backup scheduling
For example, the Hardware Independent Restore feature lets you restore one PC’s drive image on a completely different PC. (Try moving a bootable drive from one PC to another with different hardware configuration, and you’ll soon discover that Windows will have difficulty, at a minimum, booting. In some cases, especially with Windows 8, Windows won’t boot at all.)
When I tried Hardware Independent Restore, the process of restoring an image from a Win7 laptop to an all-but-abandoned XP machine took well over an hour. But the cloned machine booted as if Windows had been installed the traditional way.
That’s a rather specialized application. An SPD5 feature you might use far more often is the Explore Backup Wizard, which let me view and restore individual files directly from a backup image. To do this, the wizard mounts the image as a separate, temporary drive letter or directory. When you’re done, you simply run the application’s dismount wizard to close the image.
Virtual Boot (also found in True Image 13) is a handy feature that lets you run the backup image on a virtual PC, using Oracle’s free (and included) VirtualBox (site). Running the backup image in a virtual PC not only gives you a way to fully access the image — it’s also a technique for safely testing new software before installing it on your physical system. If the new software causes problems, or you decide you simply don’t like it, it’ll instantly and completely vanish when you shut down the virtual system.
As stated at the top, $90 is steep; but for those who need or want more than simple backup and restore, SPD5 is well worth the investment.
Seamless updates with Ninite — online and off
More than one Windows Secrets reader sent in emails singing the praises of Ninite.com, a site that boasts, “Install and update all your programs at once.” At face value, that sounds suspicious. But as long as you know its limitations, it seems to live up to its claims — simply, quickly, and without any gotchas such as adding extra junk and crapware toolbars.
It’s important to note that all apps offered by Ninite are freeware; many are open-source software. The list of apps includes Web browsers, security utilities, developer tools, messaging software, media players, file-sharing programs, and many others.
Whether you are installing an app for the first time or want a previously installed app updated, Ninite installs the most recent version of your selected programs, in the background and with little or no user input. It skips any app that’s already up to date, so you can run the service as often as you like.
According to the service’s “How Ninite works” page, the system downloads applications from the publishers’ sites and automatically selects whatever user options an app’s installer might present. For example, Ninite claims that it automatically unchecks any offers of toolbars or other potentially unwanted add-ons.
To get started with Ninite, check off the apps you already have or want (see Figure 3). After making your selections, click the green Get Installer button; Ninite then consults its database of software and downloads a custom installer onto your computer.
Figure 3. Ninite automatically installs or updates over 100 different applications.
Next, the Ninite installer goes to each chosen app’s download site and simultaneously installs or updates it in the background. (It also skips the applications’ reboot requests until all selected apps are installed.)
The site also offers a paid Pro version (info page) that starts at $20 a month for up to 100 systems. It includes many other options — such as a custom installer that runs without an Internet connection — that can be difficult to find on the Ninite site. I suggest you start with the service’s main help page.
I like that Ninite updates, on its own, a whole batch of apps at once. It’s just another way to save time with your PC maintenance. (In fact, the next two utilities I discuss, VLC Media Player and TrueCrypt encryption, were installed by Ninite. If you want to try them out, let Ninite do the installation for you.)
VLC: Infinite media-streaming capabilities
I didn’t need reader recommendations to include VideoLAN’s VLC media player in this list of best software — it’s been my go-to media player for a long time. In my experience, VLC has never met an audio or video file format it couldn’t play. As with all good open-source apps, VLC is the product of a volunteer-based, nonprofit organization. It works equally well in various platforms such as Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, and others.
VLC delivers sharp, flicker-free, stutter-free, playback — whether the source is images, downloaded video, CD, or DVD (and soon Blu-ray). The app is free, but VideoLAN’s home page encourages donations to the cause.
VLC really shows its intelligence when working with more difficult formats. For example, I copied a 1MB .vob file (one of the many video/audio files on a DVD) to my hard drive. VLC smoothly played back the file, though the original DVD was no longer in the PC’s optical drive.
When reading directly from some DVDs, VLC could go directly to the main attraction’s menu — skipping over the initial anti-copy warnings and annoying clips about coming attractions.
VLC uses a modular system for its interface and for reading specific media formats. That makes the app highly customizable; VideoLAN is constantly adding new codecs and skins, which let you change its look and feel to match your particular tastes. Downloadable extensions give VLC additional capabilities.
VLC’s menus are nicely organized and extensive. A couple of clicks let you quickly change Zoom (screen resolution) or aspect ratio (see Figure 4). Want to take a fast screenshot of a running video? Just press Shift+S. It also offers configurable hotkeys, mouse gestures, and remote-control tools for mobile operating systems.
Figure 4. VLC media player includes easy-to-use controls.
Now you know why I don’t use Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or any other media player. VLC handles everything they do, but with more finesse and less overhead.
Tales from the TrueCrypt: Free data encryption
TrueCrypt (site) is often recommended — by both Windows Secrets readers and its contributors — as one of the best open-source encryption applications. But when you first look at the application’s interface, you might immediately think: “Gee, I’m all alone here.” Fear not! There are plenty of help manuals and some wizards to walk you through the process of encrypting your data. Because a simple misstep could permanently lock you out of your data, I recommend reviewing the help material first, then practicing setting up TrueCrypt with some expendable files and folders.
TrueCrypt is much like the previously discussed VLC: a free, open-source application eclipsed by very few other encryption applications. Not only does it thoroughly password-protect your data, it can camouflage encrypted files so that they don’t appear to exist on your PC!
Only a password stands between you and your encrypted data. TrueCrypt helps you create strong passwords during the setup process. For example, when I created a short, eight-character password, TrueCrypt popped up a strong warning practically demanding that I should use a longer one (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. TrueCrypt makes it clear that longer passwords give better data protection.
TrueCrypt’s terminology can be a bit confusing at first. Encrypted data is stored in containers (files), which the app creates for you. You can also encrypt a drive partition or an entire drive. TrueCrypt also collectively calls encryption files volumes, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. TrueCrypt's labeling can be hard to follow. In this case, the file that holds your encrypted data is called a volume, which can be either visible in File Explorer or hidden.
Encrypted volumes can be placed on your hard drive, a USB flash drive, or external drives. You’re given a choice of the type of encryption you want to use each time. Encryption formats include AES-256, the 448-bit key Blowfish, Triple DES, and Twofish — none of which even the NSA could break, as far as we know.
With the TrueCrypt app, containers or volumes are opened — or mounted — within virtual drives the program creates. Each virtual drive has a drive letter you select, such as M:, with a specified amount of storage space you set. There are various other mounting options, as shown in Figure 7. Just remember: you can’t open a TrueCrypt volume unless you provide the correct password. Lose the password, and the volume is locked forever.
Figure 7. Some of TrueCrypt's encrypted-volume mounting options should be thoroughly understood before being applied.
Mounted containers/volumes act just like physical drives: files and folders can be viewed and managed in Windows Explorer — and moved or copied to and from other drives. When you’re finished, you simply dismount a volume and it virtually disappears.
Again, TrueCrypt’s options can be difficult to grasp initially. So read the manual carefully, and be especially vigilant during the initial encryption process — or you’ll possibly kiss your data goodbye. That said, TrueCrypt offers an amazing level of data protection. If you want to keep your data from prying eyes, TrueCrypt is one of the best ways to do so.