image

In case you missed it: yesterday I announced that Acronis True Image version 9 is on sale through our web site at 20% off the regular price. Furthermore: if you purchased True Image 6, 7, or 8 through our web site previously, you can also grab the ... upgrade to version 9 at 20% off. I also announced that there was a major update to True Image version 9 that allows you to record directly to a DVD Recordable drive without using third-party packet writing software (as with previous versions). RE: Yesterday's Discount Codes Not Working Having said all that: I guess I "jumped the gun" a bit yesterday ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Don S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Last year, I took your advice and downloaded Acronis True Image 8.0. Since then I have updated to version 9.0. This week I just received notice of a new update for version 9.0 that allows me to burn ... my image backups directly to DVD without any third-party packet-writing software. The update is available for free to current registered users. I just wanted to pass on this note. Thanks for all the good stuff you do! " https://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/updates/ My response: Thank you, Don, for sending me this email! A handful of users have ... (view more)

Back in October of last year, I posted a request in the Freeware Revolution's forum . In the message, I asked all the members of the forum to post a mini-review of their favorite freeware program. Here's what Scott Williams, webmaster of Freeware ... Arena , had to say: " Often times many of us can best express ourselves digitally by doing a bit of 'pixel pushing' (image editing/creation) ... there are a plethora of great graphics editing apps available. Originally I was alerted to PhotoFiltre ... a program that really does suit the needs of both the graphics artist of all levels ... Whether ... (view more)

If you use MS Word to create newsletters, marketing copy, or other printable documents that include images, there's one picture-editing tool that can make the difference between publishing an image that works and one that merely takes up space: the ... Crop tool. For instance, instead of publishing an image that shows a very small person in the middle of a lot of wasted space, you can use the Crop tool to zoom in on the important part of the image. You can practice using the Crop tool and see how it works: Launch MS Word. Copy a graphic image from a Web page and paste it into Word, or insert an ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Robin' writes: " Dear Dennis, Regarding yesterday's Shell Extension City pick labeled ' SystemRescueCd ': According to the write-up, I understand that this particular rescue disc is (and I quote) 'a Linux system.' Question: does ... this mean that this is a rescue system for Windows XP that operates under Linux or is it a rescue system for people running Linux on their PC? I hope you understand what I mean. I'm confused! " My response: I was also very interested in this Shell Extension City pick, so I downloaded it and burned it onto a rewriteable disc. The answer to your ... (view more)

Continued from Part 1 . Surveying the hundreds of new products introduced at the Photo Marketing Associations (PMA) trade show (Feburary 27 ~ March 1, 2006) revealed that technology companies have finally ended their fight for "the largest mega ... pixel" camera. The truth is that an average shooter only needs a 6 mega pixel camera for 5x7 or 8x10 to develop quality prints. So what's next? There are too many choices when camera makers introduce 15 new models and the competition is increasing as Samsung introduces it's first SLR with interchangeable lenses at the PMA showing Orlando ... (view more)

I just got back from the 82nd annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show in Orlando, Florida, and I've got some new hot picks to share. With Kodak claiming that the digital photography market is now in "phase two," the rush to buy one is ... over, now we have to figure out how to track all the digital photos. WiFi is being added to cameras to enable images to be shared and stored in real-time. James Neal, GM for Digital Imaging at Sony boasts how Sony pioneered digital photography with the "first auto-focus body-integral SLR camera in 1985." Sony acquired Minolta's assets when they shut ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have recently added a 120GB external hard drive to my Dell Dimension computer (via the USB port). Problem: whenever I turn my computer on (to start Windows), the external hard drive always tries ... to boot first. Inevitably I get an error message that 'operating system is not found' and I have to shut off the external unit and then reboot the machine in order to start Windows properly. For this reason, I am curious if my Windows XP crashes, would it be able to boot from the external hard drive? If so, how would I go about doing this? ... (view more)

Die-hard Infopackets Reader Paul B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have been a faithful subscriber to your newsletter for a few years now. While I immensely enjoy reading your articles (especially the software reviews), I am constantly second-guessing ... myself as to which utilities *I* need to keep my system running smoothly. As a newbie, I would like to know how many of these 'fix all programs' are really necessary? For example, which utilities do I need for: speeding up, uninstalling, defragging, anti-Spyware, anti-spam, firewall, anti-virus, registry cleaning / fixing... etc. I mostly use my ... (view more)

Drive Image Xml Easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. The program allows you to: Backup logical drives and partitions to image files, Browse these images, view and extract files, Restore these ... images to the same or a different drive, Copy directly from drive to drive. Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Restore images to drives without having to reboot. ... (view more)