gHacks technology news » usb software http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:45:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Portable Computer Software Collection Liberkey http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/13/portable-computer-software-collection-liberkey/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/13/portable-computer-software-collection-liberkey/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:47:59 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=13529 microsoft windowsComputer software packages that can be loaded on an usb device seem to become more common these days. Many experienced computer users maintain a collection of computer troubleshooting and recovery tools on a DVD or removable device which comes in very handy when troubleshooting computer problems. Liberkey is another portable computer software collection that can also be installed on the computer system. It comes in three different editions. The basic, standard and ultimate editions offer access to 28, 106 and 202 computer software programs respectively that occupy 179, 410 or 575 Megabytes on the selected storage device. The application comes with a setup that will extract the contents to the desired location on the computer system.

computer software

The list of supported applications reads like a who is who of the most popular free computer software programs. Everything seems to be there from Firefox over AIMP to Notepad++, True Crypt and WinSCP.

Liberkey comes with its own application launcher which can be extended with software that the developers have not already included in the packages. Software can easily be added by a simple right-click in the program’s interface. It is furthermore possible to remove and add categories and applications from the application launcher.

A left-click will attach a new window to the launcher that contains information about the computer program while a double-click will load the software right away.

liberkey

Liberkey will automatically check for computer program updates which can then be downloaded to replace the old programs. A free account is required to make use of the auto-update feature though. Liberkey is an excellent portable software suite that shines because of its update feature and extensibility.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/13/portable-computer-software-collection-liberkey/feed/ 10 USB Lost and Found http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/08/usb-lost-and-found/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/08/usb-lost-and-found/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:42:50 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=8155 USB Lost And Found is a software program that provides an interesting way to inform a finder of an USB stick about the rightful owner. Something that might come in quite handy for British government officials and citizens working in IT. The free version can be configured to display a message that is linked to the devices autoplay mechanism.

The owner of the USB stick can set it to display an email address or phone number that will be revealed when the finder double-clicks the drive or autostart kicks in. The protection is basic and does not keep anyone from fiddling around with the files if they are proficient enough to do that. It is still possible to copy files from the USB device in the same operating system.

It is therefor more of a friendly reminder than a protection that would keep users “who really want the data” away. The software program basically increases the chance that the USB stick will be returned to its rightful owner.

USB Lost and Found comes in a Pro version as well which adds one interesting additional feature. The Lock Down feature will lock the computer completely if the USB drive is accessed displaying a similar message with the owner’s contact information and a password form.

The password is selected during the setup of the protection. The best case scenario would be this. User A loses his USB device, maybe near a Brewers Fayre chain pub in Cannock, Staffordshire. User B walks along and finds the USB device, decides to connect it to his computer to see if he can find any information on the rightful owner. Or confidential government data that might be worth a ton.

After clicking on the USB device in Windows he will either be greeted with the Please return message or he will witness a computer lockdown displaying the password box and the phone number or email address that he has to call / write to to unlock the computer again.

User B will call, User A will either tell him the password directly or agree to meet User B to receive the USB stick in person giving him the password then. Worst case scenario is that a Linux or Mac OS user finds the USB device.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/08/usb-lost-and-found/feed/ 9 USB Syncer http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/10/usb-syncer/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/10/usb-syncer/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:47:48 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=7551 USB Syncer is a small synchronization software program for Windows 2000 and Windows XP that can synchronize the contents of a folder on the hard drive with a folder on a removable drive. The synchronization is a one-way synchronization meaning that the contents of the hard drive’s folder will be copied to the removable device but not the other way round. All changes that might have been made to the USB drive will be ignored by the software program.

The interface of USB Syncer requires minimal user input. The user needs to choose the source folder on the hard drive and the destination folder on the USB device. The contents of the source folder will be copied to the USB device whenever the USB device is connected to the computer. Contents that are stored in the folder on the USB device will be deleted before the transfer starts.

The software program comes in an early beta version that has some limitations that are explained during installation and in the readme file. The application might not work properly if more than one removable device is connected to the computer during synchronization.

usb syncer

The software will ask the user if he wants to perform a synchronization if the user selects the Synchronize Now link int the Windows Start Menu. If a device gets detected that has been connected to the computer the program will ask if the user wants to synchronize the folder with that device.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/10/usb-syncer/feed/ 8 Automatic Backups when USB Device is connected http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/22/automatic-backups-when-usb-device-is-connected/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/22/automatic-backups-when-usb-device-is-connected/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2007 10:55:23 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/22/automatic-backups-when-usb-device-is-connected/ I found a nice USB software called My Pen Drive which can be freely downloaded from the developers homepage. It is basically offering two great features: One is the ability to autostart applications from the USB drive when it gets connected to the computer, the other a automatic backup function which backups (pre-)selected folders that are saved on the USB drive when it connects to the computer.

The USB software has a clean user interface which makes it easy to configure the options in a short period of time. You can select the program that should be autostarted when the USB Drive connects to your computer in the “Start Programs” pane. The backup function can be configured in the “Backup Folders” pane right above “Start Programs”. You may select up to three custom folders that should be backed up everytime the USB drive connects to the computer.

Several default Microsoft Windows folders such as My Documents, My Music and My Pictures have already been added and can be checked. Besides those you can browse your computer and select three folders that should be backed up as well. It should be obvious that you can’t select folders that are bigger than the space of the USB drive.

The total size of a backup is shown in My Pen Drive and you can compare that figure with the size of the USB drive. Great little application, I use it mainly for backing up personal files.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/22/automatic-backups-when-usb-device-is-connected/feed/ 2 Check which usb devices have been connected to your computer http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:01:53 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/ I have been writing a article about three months ago which detailed how to edit the registry to display previously connected usb devices in the device manager. While this method is still working I found a free software that has exactly the same function. The software is called USB Deview and was developed by one of my favorite software programmers NirSoft. Before I start and describe the security software I would like to point out its use. I work for a company in the financing sector and they have such a strict security protocol that everything has to be routinely checked from time to time.

It is important to check if a unauthorized USB device has been connected to a computer. This could be a clear sign of a security breach, maybe data theft. One could argue that the damage has already been done but would you prefer to know of it at all or be totally unprepared for future events that result from this ? It is probably not that important for non business users but it could still be nice to know if someone else connected a device to your computer while you were away.

USB Deview lists the name of the device, a description and device type, a serial number and a created date. You do get a pretty good impression which kind of device has been connected. I checked my computer and was able to spot the Sony Ericsson W810 mobile phone from a friend that was once connected to my computer.

You can use USB Deview to uninstall previously connected USB devices or disconnect currently connected ones. Great little application, does not need to be installed at all and uses just 38K unpacked.

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