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Some Useful Applications

American Society of Nepalese EngineersComputer Track

Jan 31, 2009

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Agenda• Toucan Backup• WordWeb• TrueCrypt• Bluecoat K-9 Web Protection• KeyNote• PING

Note that all of the programs discussed are freeware!

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Toucan• What is Toucan?

– A small utility for backing up and synchronizing data files on the computer

• Advantages:– Creates a single zip file for all the files to be backed– Can also synchronize data between two directories– Has many customization options; can include files

from multiple directories and multiple volume– Encryption option for backing up files

• Where is it available for download?– www.portableapps.com

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Toucan

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WordWeb

• Nice, very handy and free dictionary

• Select a word and click on the application

• Also antonyms, nearest and similar words are a click away

• Available for download from http://wordweb.info/free/

• Fast lookup, good for students as well as adults!

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True Crypt• Application for encrypting information

and data securely• Strong authentication: longer

passphrase (difficult to decrypt)• All the files and folders, etc. are

hidden “inside a single file”.• Storing financial information, tax

information, online statements, etc.– Sensitivity of information stored in

USB flash drive, portable hard drive• Welcome to the Internet: so

passwords to remember, etc. – Create an ordinary file and store it

inside TrueCrypt using a very long password/passphrase

• Available for download from: http://www.truecrypt.org/

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KeyNote

• Great application for taking notes

• Everything gets organized in a single file

• Has Options for creating folders inside

• Search capability on all the folders

• Available at: http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html

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BlueCoat K9 Web Protection

• BlueCoat application is for filtering the web contents

• A lot of bad sites are automatically blocked

• Configuration option for blocking additional sites manually

• Also option for restricting online time (at which the web site is allowed) – e.g. kids are allowed 30 mins to have internet time from 6:30 pm to 7:00pm only

• Available at: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

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PING• What is PING?

– Similar to Norton Ghost but freeware (Partition Image Not Ghost)– Image creation utility for computer

• What problem will it address?– Overtime computer becomes slow due to:

• Downloading applications, data, music, games etc. – Generation of Internet savvy kids!

• Installation and un-installation of applications• Virus, disk fragmentation, creation of temporary files, etc.

– Certain virus that prevent installation of any new applications (requiring registry update)

• Organization of files on Windows is extremely messy– Everything gets dumped into a few directories; no clean easy way to

uninstall applications

– The only remaining option is to reformat the computer and install everything from fresh !

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PING• Traditional Remediation Steps:

– Install Operating System (OS) (45 mins)– Research specific drivers and download and install them (1 hour)– Other applications (depends)– OS updates and windows security patch updates (1 hour)

• Using PING:– Create an image from a freshly installed OS + other applications + drivers

updates + security patches and store on a portable hard drive – Restore the image from the portable drive in less than around 5 to 10 mins!– Be sure to backup your data prior to reinstallation

• What do you need to use PING?– A bootable CD or bootable Flashdrive around 128 MB– For Windows XP, Portable hard disk with approx. 5 to 10 GB free space

(depends on your applications and data:currently 150GB hard drive portable drive costs $50.00 or so)

• Available for download from:– http://ping.windowsdream.com/– Nice user guide: http://ping.windowsdream.com/ping/doc-2.01/using.html