Free Harddisk Cloning Solution

I am sure there are times you need to move all harddisk content over to another disk without the luxury of the time to reinstall.
Here is the free Home-Based solution just by using a <1GB Thumbdrive you can image your harddisk without buying software like Norton Ghost or Acronis.
First download unetbootin, a tool to create Linux Live Thumbdrive boot disk.
Next download EASEUS Disk Copy from EASEUS.
Unzip dc.zip to a location.
Create a bootable thumbdrive by launching unetbootin as shown.

After that plug in your source and destination harddisk, boot from thumbdrive then run disk copy and do a sector by sector imaging!

New Stuff I discovered regarding temperature control

Recently I updated all my drivers again but soon I realized that my laptop was running hotter than usual.
I mean really hot like 60 degrees on Idle.
I soon narrowed it down to the latest chipset driver I install so I reverted to the old driver and surprisingly it went down.
I took a look using HWMonitor and found that the latest chipset driver was working the processor really hard consuming 25watts constantly on idle.
I downgraded the chipset driver to the previous version and the problem disappeared immediately.
So the story of this lesson is do not assume anything and anything newer shiny != greater.

So if you encounter heat issues you might also wish to try revert to old version.
Also for Windows 7 compatible machines setting the processor cooling management to passive means the fan will spin less (quieter) but it will operate at generally higher temperatures. In contrast setting it to passive mode means it will spin more (noisier) but keep temperatures lower.

Just A Query From Readers.

My opinion of the world today is rather negative.

I see people getting excited over silly devices like a iphone over more important matter like family, society, country and the world.

Superpower wage war over non-existent WMDs (even though the intelligence agency reported NO THREAT) and the leader got away with indirectly causing the death of the soldiers in his own country, in the country where in was fought burning away cash in the form of expensive weapons used. It is like mass murder in the public view of everyone and no one actually cares...

We also have filthy rich companies concern with saving money as a result causing pollution over the environment and putting a price tag on it. IMO money can never buy back the same state it was previously.

In the 21sth Century IMO mankind has sink to unprecedented depths again...but this is worse given that it was caused by apathy not by a single country but by people all over the world.

In my country (Singapore) a lot of parents are both working neglecting kids just to get a higher standard of living to purchase useless stuff like the iphone which almost cost a laptop not to mention the exorbitant monthly subscription.

People start engaging in trashy shows and useless advertising instead of reading useful materials like books.

In my country students study just to pass exams...

Does that happen all over the world or is it just my country? What is your opinion on this?

The 100MB Partition in Windows 7

As you might already know Windows 7 default installation creates a 100MB partition during Setup.
The function is not really documented on the Internet, however reading this you should already know what it is for.

The partition in question is the System Reserved Partition.

So lets compare the Windows 7 installation with and without the 100MB System Reserve Partition.

Firstly lets take a look at the root drive of the Windows 7 with the 100MB:

Next lets take a look at the root drive of the Windows 7 without the 100MB:

So what is the the difference? It is the presence of file and folder required for booting like bootmgr etc...

Open up the 100MB partition and what do you know we are right!

So what does this means?
It means in actual fact the extra partition is optional has 0 effects on system operation.

So lets take a logical approach and think of possible reasons for this change.

1)Prevent Noobs from accidentally killing their Windows Installation by moving the boot files off C:\ to a partition they can't touch? Possible Very Likely
2)Optimize boot performance by moving boot files to the first partition(front part of the drive)? Possible as well.
3)Modularize the OS file layout? Very possible a much more elegant solution than cramping all the files into C:\.In fact it could mean you could multiboot multiple Windows OS on volumes without having repeated Boot files in each and every installation.

What does this means to end user? It means for those Dual Booters like me it is 4 - 2 primary partition left instead of 4 - 1.
Does it matter? No because you can create logical/extended partition to bypass the 4 primary partition limit in legacy Master Boot Record (MBR).
It doesn't affect GUID Partition Tables (GPT) on EFI systems.
Unfortunately Windows 7 doesn't do GPT volume installation.

So remember the 100MB is just a rearrangement of boot files. Period.

Audio Driver Matching

The reason for this new post is because I found out something interesting about MSI Release Audio Drivers.
Compared to Acer Default drivers they are richer in sound yet utilities the same audio chip.
However going by their filename I believe it is device id optimized.
So how do you find out the audio chip in your laptop desktop?
Go to Control Panel, open up Realtek Audio Driver Control Panel and check the audio chip used.

The Audio Codec will be listed.
Further proof that Audio Codec is dependent on Audio Chip installed and not device driver:

So which MSI driver to use?
Check the filename: ad_alc888s_vc2_6.0.1.6151_al00.zip
This indicates the driver is optimized for the ALC888S Audio Chip in the laptop.
I listed all the device driver on MSI by the Device ID just download & install!

"THX Certified + 4 Premium Sound Speakers" Driver

ad/ad_alc269q_X_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc269_X_al00.zip

"Sound by Dynaudio with DTS Surround" Driver

ad/ad_alc888s_X_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc888_X_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc662_X_al00.zip

This entry will be updated from time to time just check the last modified entry.

Acer Aspire 4740G on OpenSUSE (Perfect Linux Machine)

As I said AS4740 works well with Linux but you still need to do some tweaking for full functionality.
A lot of things you do with AS4530 is done with AS4740 to achieve full multimedia capability.

Edit: As with the new release openSUSE there are some updates:
1)Multimedia configuration is as shown below still the same manual work due to GPL.
2)Edit Nvidia Driver Repo is up just add the server and install the drivers.
3)You no longer need acpi_vendor commandline...issue resolved
4)Touchpad still jumpy with 2 fingers...
5)Atheros Driver no compiling required since the drivers work pretty well out of box.

In conclusion it is a great release solving some of the issues above just that the nvidia delay is a show stopper. I always like openSUSE elegant way of pushing down Nvidia Driver by server repo too bad they didn't get it out the same time as the distro release.

Lets get started:

First go to OpenSUSE to download their Live CD for 32/64bit according to your needs.
The LiveCD is the size of a Normal CD and just what you need to install OpenSUSE, the DVD format is a waste of bandwidth and a overkill.

Everything works out of box except the display driver.

Things that need tweaking:

• Nvidia Propriety Drivers.

OpenSUSE is interesting because Nvidia provides the driver updates from their own server.
Other Distro like Ubuntu has a 3rd party maintaining the driver but not OpenSUSE however due to licensing issues they cannnot include it in the default install.

After installing add the Nvidia Server to the repository
SYSTEM,  SYSTEM ,YAST

Software,Software Repo

Add

Protocol:HTTP
Server:download.nvidia.com (See Nvidia provides the direct package)
Directory on Server: /opensuse/11.2

Accept the Server Key (because you trust the server)
From the YAST Menu, Select Software Management search for the Nvidia Driver and install it.
The kicker is that OpenSUSE software updates is IRRITATINGLY SLOW.
So bear with it.

After installing and rebooting it will be automatically activated.

• Restricted Formats

Due to licensing issues OpenSUSE doesn't have restricted format support out of box but they are downloadable here (Unfortunately the libraries broke the cheese webcam functionality).

Edit: To prevent breaking of the cheese webcam functionality do the following:

Add VLC to the software repository(Use VLC to play all your future videos)
Then use Fluedo Codec for Banshee
After this the webcam functionality will be preserved.

You might also want to do the following configuration of the conf files below.

Edit: /etc/sudoers
Append "DISPLAY" as shown below
Defaults env_keep = "LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS XDG_SESSION_COOKIE DISPLAY"

The reason so you can sudo something in GNOME Desktop Mode.

Edit /etc/fstab
Add noatime to the line of your main disk partition so it will not write last access date to your Harddisk (Less unnnessary harddisk operations)

Open YAST select bootloader
Rename the Windows 7 Entry to something you like.
Rename the OpenSUSE Entry to something you like. 
Set the default OS to something you use more often.
Add acpi_osi=Linux to the end of the OpenSUSE boot parameters

Issue #1 Touchpad Multi-Touch (There is still a problem with jumping cursors with multi fingers so it is better to revert to Scroll Bar it should be fixed in the future) :

Create a config file using the data below.
Name it: 11-x11-synaptics.fdi
copy it to the following folder with root permission:/etc/hal/fdi/policy

(From post in 3810 thread):

The synaptics pad may not support true multitouch. However, we emulate multitouch when the width of the touch is greater than 6 units:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
  <device>
    <match key="info.capabilities" contains="input.touchpad">
        <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">On</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.EmulateTwoFingerMinZ" type="string">50</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.EmulateTwoFingerMinW" type="string">5</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.VertTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton1" type="string">1</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton2" type="string">3</merge>
        <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton3" type="string">2</merge>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>

Then enable 2 finger scroll as shown below

Issue 2: Brightness Control
Add the follow to the Boot Loader Command Line as shown below
: acpi_backlight=vendor

Issue 3: Weak Wireless Signal
Add Atheros Repository to YAST

Then go to the install software menu it will recommend you to install atheros driver and madwifi.
However this doesn't solve the issue as signal is still weak you must grab the latest driver from source and compile it.
Sounds tough? It is actually quite simple.

Compiling it yourself using the sources

• Make sure you have installed those packages: gcc, gcc-g++, make, kernel-source, kernel-XXX-devel (where XXX is the type of your kernel, for example if you use kernel-desktop kernel install kernel-desktop-devel package). If not, please install them using YaST.
• Download the current drivers directly from MadWifi Project.
• Unpack the archive in a temporary folder.
• Open up a terminal window.
• Switch to the temporary folder, and type in,

$ sudo make 

$ sudo make install

To load the new driver modules simply restart if you do not want to load the driver module manually.

Issue 4 Microphone
This is simply just set as shown below

For best Font Display use the following Settings in Appearance:
Select Detail

Select Slight Hinting or None instead of Full

Fuss Free Computing

I hear a lot of stories regarding the state of Windows users find themselves.
However you can be certain that 90% of the time it is the users' fault.
I have another article on how to maintain the longevity of the hardware but this post specifically aims to teach you how to maintain the state of your operating system.
It is tried and tested on my system therefore I don't see how it is not applicable to anyone else.
Ok here goes

Rule 1: Don't install any software you don't know

I know it is difficult since they let you download for FREE right? No.
Only download reputable software from reputable sources.
Do not install software that forces you to download and run it to access certain resources.
A lot of freeware advertised in banners are either spyware or malware in their own rights.
Good software spreads by the word of mouth. Ask your IT-Savy friends for advice on Freeware.

Rule 2: Do Not Download & Run Files not expected from friends

Do not assume that mail coming from friends are safe. Some Malware do spread from contact list so unless you are expecting the mail and or attachments from friends just trash the mail. You can tell whether the mail is genuine from the way the text is phrase as well.

Rule 3: Less is more

Contrary to freebies in computing more software = less performance.

If we take a logical approach, more software = more code/data to be executed.
Assuming processing is constant,  performance drops. Logical?

So install what you actually will use and software that brings real benefits to your computing experience, avoid programs that tries runs itself on startup because it brings delay to boot time execution.

Rule 4: Only Optimization is Windows Optimization

Out of the so many Windows optimization the only real optimization is the Windows built in ones.(You can find the optimization below documented in documents published in WHDC (Windows Hardware Developer Central).
Open Command Prompt with Elevated Rights & type the following:

C:\Windows\System32)Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

You will see harddisk lights light up as Windows started optimizing itself.
It is safe to assume that it is completed once Harddisk Activity lights ceases.
Next run Windows Defragmenter 
Open Command Prompt with Elevated Rights & type the following:

C:\Windows\System32)Defrag C:\ /v /u

The /v /u flags will inform you about the status of completion.

Finally Open Command Prompt with Elevated Rights & type the following:

C:\Windows\System32)Defrag C:\ /v /u /b

The /b flag will tell Windows to perform an optimization known as boot optimization to reduce boot time.

Some other Optimization does the same optimization as documented by Microsoft so installing them is like doubling the work so you actually do not need to install any third party software optimizer.

However Windows Defragmenter is a necessary evil inherent because of the way NTFS, Microsoft File System allocates Disk space, defragmentation is the only solution to defragment non-contiguous files especially after a lot of reinstalls and uninstalls.

Rule 5: Delete the "Setup.exe" after installing

Whenever you download and install a software like Firefox you get a installer called Setup.exe. If I were to use an analogy it is like the packaging whenever you buy a product after you take out the product you can throw the box away. Over time these EXEs built up when you install software wasting unnessary space on the harddisk. Just like your real house do some house keeping on your harddisk.

Rule 6: Do Not Install Toolbars

This is a fair new occurrence you see many software publishers offering toolbars for Web Browsers some come bundled with "freeware". In any case Do Not install them.

Why? Because the Web Browsers Authors do not specifically test the toolbars to work properly alongside the browsers. There is no guarantee it will not affect your browser in any negative manner.

Rule 7: Disable AutoRun & AutoPlay

 Even though Microsoft beefed up Windows Security with UAC and malware that auto launches itself from the thumbdrive can still cause some unnecessary damage. If you need to launch an executable just launch it manually and save yourself the unnecessary risk of a malware attack. To disable it just access Control Panel click on AutoPlay and disable it for all devices. If autoplay is disable NO MALWARE can attempt to launch itself into your system unless you launch it manually.

Lastly to get a free and good anti-virus look no further than Microsoft Security Essentials.

Why do I recommend this software because it is free for every Genuine Windows, and updates are tested before release.

I believe you heard horror stories of 3rd party Anti-Virus killing your Operating Systems.

1)I believe that Microsoft test their definition files and patches before release.

2)A good anti-virus isn't overly suspicious. Microsoft Security Essentials have good detection rate but at the same time it isn't overly zealous like a suspicious policeman thinking every citizen is a potential criminal like some other 3rd party OS.

3)I have tried MSE and it plays nice on Windows Vista and  above Operating System without being a resource hog. Some people believe that a Security Software should protect us against all know threats even drive by sites but I believe an Anti-Virus software is the last line of defense against malware, users safe surfing and computer usage habits is the FIRST defence. Just following the few simple rules should guarantee a fuss free computing even on Windows. Paying more for Macs isn't the solution, sure using a less common OS might reduce the chance of encountering malware since the malware programmers tend to target the majority but ultimately it is the usage habits that matters.