The PC Informant » File management

New file extension site

Vic Laurie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:53:54 +0000

Nir Sofer is one of those public-spirited programmers who provides useful, free utilities for the PC community. Recently he also announced a site for getting information about file extensions. The site allows you to find out which Windows software can open a specific file extension.

Really, really delete a file

Vic Laurie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:00:16 +0000

As was explained in an older post, deleting a file doesn’t really delete a file. As I wrote previously:

The usual procedure for deleting a file in Windows contains the safety feature of first placing the deleted file in the Recycle Bin. If you change your mind and want the file back, it can then be restored. But what about permanently deleted files? If you bypass the Recycle Bin or empty it, the “deleted” files are, in fact, still there. They are just no longer visible in the file lists of Windows Explorer. What happens is that Windows alters the beginning letter of the name of the “deleted” file in the system’s file tracking entries so that it no longer shows up in lists kept by the operating system. Also, Windows designates the space where the file is kept as now being available for other files to use. As long as you do not write over this space with new files, it is easy to recover the file.

In my most recent post, I indicated some ways to restore deleted files that you decided you wanted to keep after all. But suppose you have one or more files with sensitive material and you definitely want them wiped off the disk forever? The general technique is to write zeros over the space on the disk where the file was stored. Depending on the degree of security needed, the zeroing process can be repeated as many times as you feel necessary.

There are a number of commercial programs that will carry out this process but there is also a free program from Microsoft. It’s a Sysinternals utility and is called SDelete. It can be downloaded here.

Recover lost data

Vic Laurie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:49:45 +0000

Every now and then, I mention software for recovering deleted files. Recently, Lifehacker came up with a selection of five data recovery programs.

The site MakeUseOf has also recently reviewed several recovery programs.

How to hide sensitive files on your computer

Vic Laurie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:00:42 +0000

Most of us probably have material on our PCs that we regard as confidential. Lists of passwords, income tax data, bank accounts, and many other possibilities come to mind. Many average home PC users are unaware that there are a variety of methods available for either hiding or encrypting sensitive material. I like the free and quite powerful program TrueCrypt. This program and some other methods are discussed at Maximum PC.

File extensions still hidden in Windows 7

Vic Laurie — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:00:46 +0000

Microsoft claims that it listens to what its customers say but there are some areas where Microsoft is deaf. Ever since Windows 95 (and maybe before, I’ve forgotten), the default setting has been to hide the extensions of files. Because file extensions are core to handling and managing files, this choice of default configuration often creates problems. Experienced users and businesses with IT staff know how to change the setting. However, average home PC users have no idea how to make extensions visible. There have been numerous times that someone has come to me with a problem because they couldn’t see file extensions.

In spite of longstanding complaints that file extensions should be visible by default, Microsoft continues to hide them in Windows 7. At ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes discusses how hiding file extensions can be a security problem. Personally, I don’t think the old double-extension trick he talks about is as big a problem as it once was. However, the lack of extensions is irritating because then you don’t know the file type.

I have been writing about how to make file extensions visible for years and this blog is no exception. Three years ago, I posted some methods for showing file extensions and I wrote:

Microsoft also has a thing about hiding file extensions. Ever since the beginning of Windows, the default setting for file extensions has been to hide them. Over the years many computer experts have pointed out over and over that this is not the best choice. Microsoft has never budged and it looks like Vista continues this practice.

As Yogi Berra supposedly said, it’s deja vu all over again.

Quick way to configure Vista folder options

Vic Laurie — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:00:10 +0000

Managing files and folders in Windows is done through Windows Explorer and there have always been a number of settings for configuring the ways that folders are presented and managed. Many of these settings can be found in the Folder Options dialog panel. There are a variety of possible ways to open Folder Options, depending on the version of Windows, but Vista provides a quick method using the Start-Search line. Simply enter “folder” in Start-Search (without quotes) and Folder Options should appear at the top of the list of results.

Microsoft file copying utility

Vic Laurie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:30:29 +0000

One common complaint about Windows systems is the slowness of copying multiple files. Apparently, Microsoft has been using a utility internally to get around this problem. Until recently, the utility was for use within Microsoft only. Now, however, it has been released for general use as an unsupported free utility. It is called RichCopy and Microsoft’s TechNet describes it:

RichCopy is a free utility that comes to us from Ken Tamaru of Microsoft. The tool was first developed in 2001 and has been updated regularly to keep pace with evolving needs. Trust me when I tell you, this is the answer to all your file copying needs. What you’ll find most striking the first time you take RichCopy out for a spin is that it’s a multithreaded copying tool. That means that rather than copying one file at a time in serial order, RichCopy can open multiple threads simultaneously, allowing many files to be copied in parallel and cutting the total time required to complete the operation several times over. You can also pause and resume file copy operations, so if you lose network connectivity at any point, you can just pick up where you left off.

MakeUseOf gives some details on how to use RichCopy. Note that this utility is not supported by Microsoft.

What does Windows System Restore do?

Vic Laurie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:00:42 +0000

Microsoft’s opaqueness about many aspects of Windows is sometimes puzzling. I suppose the near-secrecy about technical things like the details of the Registry is because Microsoft doesn’t want anybody to mess with it. But I can’t figure out why the descriptions of useful functions like System Restore are so vague. Without more information, far too many home PC users think System Restore is a complete backup. Of course, it is nothing like that. The Windows XP Help file says:

System Restore automatically tracks changes to your computer at all times and at specific intervals by creating restore points before changes occur. Restore points are stored states of your computer.

That sounds like a backup but not all changes are tracked and the meaning of “state” is never defined. So when Microsoft says, “This allows you to restore the computer to a previous state”, it isn’t clear what you get when you restore. Microsoft does say that the contents of the folder My Documents are not monitored. But some other folders and files are not tracked either. What are they? To find out, you have to go to a hidden file WINDOWS\system32\Restore\filelist.xml. (Windows XP only). This file contains the names of excluded folders and file extensions that are monitored. But for an average PC user, this file’s existence is unknown. And even if you find it, you still have to decipher the XML format. An easier way to see the list of file extensions that are monitored is to go to this Microsoft link. Among the common files that are not monitored are DOC, TXT, XLS, PDF, and HTML.

The Vista Help is slightly clearer but still not very specific. For example, it says:

System Restore uses restore points to return your system files and settings to an earlier point in time, without affecting personal files.

And, further on it says:

System Restore affects Windows system files, programs, and registry settings. It can also make changes to scripts, batch files, and other types of executable files on your computer.

Again, details are scanty and it isn’t clear what is or isn’t monitored. Presumably, the list of file extensions that are monitored is the same in Vista as in XP

System Restore is a useful function and I have employed it a number of times. But you still need a real backup method. At the very least, regularly back up your personal files and data.

Added later: I should point out that Vista Busines and Ultimate (but not Home Premium) have a feature called shadow copy that keeps older versions of files.

Desktop search tricks in Windows Vista

Vic Laurie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:08 +0000

The desktop search function in Windows Vista is different from the one in Windows XP, supposedly for the better. However, not everybody likes the change. For one thing, at first glance, it doesn’t seem to have advanced search with filters like XP does. For example, how do you find files with certain extensions? You can just enter the file extension in the “Start Search” line but that may turn up more than files with that extension. For example if you enter “bat”, the search results will include any file with “battery” as well as batch files.

The solution is to use search operators but the problem is that most home PC users are not aware of these operators. Nobody tells you about them when you buy a Vista computer. I posted about Vista search operators previously but I gave no examples. There are a lot of operators and I think that many home users will find them too much to remember. However, in this post I am going to give a couple of common examples.

I often want to find all files of a given type so I search on the file extension. The operator for this is “filext:“. So if you want to find all the JPG files, enter “filext:jpg” in the Start Search line (omit the quotes, here and in examples below).

Another common search is to look for files created after a certain date. The operator syntax for this type of search is “date: >“. Thus, to search for files dated after February 10, 2009, enter “date: >02/10/09“. This being Windows, there is another way to do the same thing. You can use the operator “after:“. Thus you could enter “after:02/10/09“.

You can combine the operators to refine your searches even further. To search for all JPG files dated after February 10, 2009, enter “filext:jpg after:02/10/09“.

The Microsoft programmers didn’t seem to know when to stop. Instead of numerical dates, you can also use a whole collection of date terms such “today”, “tomorrow”, “yesterday”, “this week”, “next month”, “last week”, “past month”, “coming year”. And there’s more. You can use the names of the days of the week, Sunday, Monday, and so forth. And you can use the names of the months, January, February, etc. An example search might be “filext:jpg after:last week“. (Be careful using the weekday and month names. I think that they are restricted to the current week and the current year.)

To read about all the various search operators, go to this Microsoft blog.

Find that file you just lost

Vic Laurie — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:06 +0000

It seems to happen to a lot of people. You download or save a file and then can’t find it again. You forgot where you put it. There are ways to use the Windows search function to find recently downloaded or saved files but there is also a free utility program designed to help with the problem of the lost file. It’s called Last Changed Files.

Via Lifehacker.