Quick: what takes 5 years, two failed attempts, and thirteen contributors? Answer: EasyBCD with multilanguage support!

Who knew it would be this hard to release a version of EasyBCD that supports languages from English to Arabic and from Korean to Russian? We certainly had no idea it would take this long and this much work back in June of 2007 when we first attempted this gargantuan task! It turns out it’s not such an easy thing to organize and manage the translation of a medium-sized software project – and that no good tools existed to make it possible.

We were expecting to find (this late into the game) a plethora of .NET localization tools and resources that would make the job ridiculously easy, but it turns out all the existing solutions were terrible for one reason or another: too hard for non-developers to grasp, no versioning support, no on-the-fly deployment (i.e. requires recompilation), no unicode support, text-only interfaces, and the list goes on and on. We had to develop our own complete end-to-end translation and globalization framework and associated utilities (xml-based, text-editable, translation interface, versioning support, unicode support, on-the-fly deploy, string aliasing, derivable strings, language cleanup, outdated/missing string search, and more!), which we’ve open sourced to save others the trouble in the future.

Now that we have the excuses out of the way, let us introduce EasyBCD 2.2, complete with 13 languages from around the globe. With much thanks to the following people, we have been able to provide these languages out-of-the-box with EasyBCD 2.2:

• Arabic (العربية) – Azal Tammu
• Catalan (Català) – Manel Fernàndez
• German (Deutsch) – Wolfgang Milhard
• English (United States) – NeoSmart Technologies
• Spanish (Español) – Manel Fernàndez
• French (Français) – Guillaume van den Bavière & co.
• Italian (Italiano) – Paolo Viappiani
• Korean (한국어) – Youngju Yun
• Polish (Polski) – Kili
• Russian (Русский) – niknikch45 & co.
• Swedish (Svenska) – Åke Engelbrektson
• Ukrainian (Українська) – z_mashine
• Chinese (Simplified) (简体中文) – Dancing Zhao
• Chinese (Taiwanese) (繁體中文) – fei

Want to join in the fun and bring the eternal light and guidance of EasyBCD to your people? Let us know!

Aside from the multilingual support (of which we are overly proud and very much excited, as you can probably tell by now), EasyBCD 2.2 also brings along the usual host of new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

Chief in the list is support for Windows 8. EasyBCD will run on Windows 8 without any problems (and will even run under .NET 4.0 without needing the installation of .NET 2.0/3.5), and can set up/manage dual-boots between Windows 8 and all the other operating systems you are used to. Further improvements and enhancements focused on Windows 8 will shortly follow, our number one priority was making sure there was a version of EasyBCD out there that can both add Windows 8 entries to the bootloader, and run under Windows 8 as needed once Microsoft’s new OS hits the shelves come October. Stay tuned for more on that topic. (btw, have you seen our Windows 8 wallpapers?)

EasyBCD 2.2 is also the first version to officially support EFI machines. Not all EasyBCD features will work perfectly on EFI as each will need to be heavily tested and verified under the most severe circumstances before we can make that claim, but in the meanwhile, EasyBCD will allow you to edit your machine’s native EFI boot menu (change, reorder, remove primitive boot devices, etc.) and will not clobber or eat up your EFI boot menu by misreading its contents then saving to disk as previous versions may or may not have done.

On the cosmetic side, you may have seen the new EasyBCD logo at the top of this post – it’s rather similar to the old one so we won’t take too much offense if you haven’t noticed the differences. This one is one hundred percent vector-based so we can generate very pretty 256×256 icons for your desktop. There’s also a new NeoSmart logo that comes with it :)

EasyBCD 2.2 also addresses issues caused by some changes in the latest Linux distributions (Ubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint 13, Fedora 17, etc.) where they changed the grub2 menu paths without warning (and, as far as we can tell, without good reason). EasyBCD 2.2 is fully compatible with the latest grub2 distros.

As usual, the full changelog is visible here. The new build can be downloaded at the link below. Commercial users can download the latest version from the user control panel. If you’re using EasyBCD in a company setting or for-profit purposes, please remember to buy a commercial license to help us support future development. We don’t use DRM or limit your usage with silly nag screens, we trust you to do the honest thing. (pro-tip: Commercial users will have an in-app auto-upgrade option starting with this build, so this is the last time you’ll need to log in to download an upgrade.)

Download EasyBCD 2.2 (1.54 MiB)

We leave you with some screenshots to bask in EasyBCD’s multilingual, Windows 8-supporting glory:

Don’t forget to follow NeoSmart Technologies on twitter @neosmart or on Facebook for the latest updates. Share with your friends and spread the goodness around!

Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows, the ultimate and easiest-ever Windows system repair CD that automatically finds and fixes problems with your Windows PC, has been officially released!

Back in April, we first announced the beta of Windows Recovery Essentials: our software to automatically detect, diagnose, and repair a multitude of common and uncommon issues that could prevent Windows from running or cause a BSOD on boot. It’s been a little longer than we originally anticipated, but over the months the Windows Recovery Essentials has been renamed to Easy Recovery Essentials (EasyRE for short), graduated out of beta going to a soft release, and is now being officially announced as grown up and ready to help everyone out of a tight spot!

EasyRE is available for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, for all editions and platforms. We are working hard on making a Windows 8 version available ASAP – we are expecting to see that version released sometime in the next week or two.

EasyRE currently comes with an automated repair tool, system restore, a partition editor, web browser, and file search/backup features. We are constantly working on adding new features and making it a more powerful tool. It can be used to fix common boot errors (bootmgr not found, bootmgr compressed, winload.exe, ntldr is missing, etc), automatic restarts, and BSODs encountered at boot.

Download EasyRE for Windows

In celebration of this milestone, and for a limited time only, we will be making copies of EasyRE available for FREE giveaways. If you’re a blogger or tech site owner who wishes to perform an EasyRE giveaway on your site, email support@systemdiscs.com to receive your free copies!

If you have any suggestions for future features, improvements, or other feedback, please let us know.

With Windows 8 just around the corner (release date: Oct. 26, 2012), we’ve been hard at work creating our Windows Recovery CDs for Windows 8. If you bought your PC without a system restore disc, if your brand new PC or laptop comes without the setup CD that should be mandatory with all computers, or if the Windows 8 setup CD fails to repair your PC, our Windows 8 repair disc is here to help.

Our Windows 8 recovery CDs are designed to search for and fix problems that prevent Windows 8 from starting up or from running correctly. They’ll automatically repair common startup issues like “bootmgr is missing” or “winload.exe is missing or corrupt”, and they’ll get your PC back to a working state even if it gives you a blue screen of death when you try to turn it on.

Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows 8 can be used to safely and securely re-create boot data, restore the registry, access System Restore snapshots, and use other powerful diagnostic and repair software to get your PC back up and running again - without losing your important data and files. Ever since Windows Vista, Microsoft has taken away the option of repairing a Windows install without formatting first. The EasyRE for Windows 8 gives you another option, even when the so-called “automatic repair” that comes with Windows Vista/7/8 fails.

What it does: The Windows 8 Recovery Disc can be used to access a system recovery menu, giving you options of using an antivirus, System Restore, web browser, partition editor, automated system repair, and a command-line prompt for manual advanced recovery.

What it doesn’t do: You cannot use the Windows 8 Recovery Disc to re-install Windows – it only fixes (not replaces!) Windows.

Why you need it: If you bought your PC from a major retailer, you didn’t get this CD with your hefty purchase.

Download Links

Download Windows 8 Recovery CD!

Tip: You’ll need to burn this ISO image to a CD or DVD before you can use it as a bootable recovery medium. NeoSmart Technologies has published a guide on how to burn an ISO image to CD or DVD with your favorite burning program, which you can read if you need more information or help on this topic.

Yesterday, while at the Apple Store for a free replacement clamshell/LCD for my 15″ MacBook Pro Retina (sudden-onset ghosting issues, to use a medical term), I caved-in and got an Apple TV. It’s something I’d given plenty of thought to in the past, but was never really sold on. In the end, the $99 price tag and my growing frustration at streaming Netflix shows and movies from my desktop to my plasma HDTV won me over.

The initial experience was pretty much par for the course: beautifully packaged, incredible attention to detail, sexy product, and gorgeous cabling. I made sure to tuck the box away somewhere safe, because Apple boxes are too beautiful to throw away.

But that was where the bliss ended and the agony began. Because of the sheer tinyness of the Apple TV compared to all my other media products, and because lag is not a primary concern as it would be with a gaming device, this was the first time that I decided to connect one of my media products via wifi instead of over ethernet (XBox, HDTV, printers, and more – all connected to a gigabit router).

I’d heard complaints about how awkward it is to use the on-screen keyboard for the Apple TV combined w/ the very minimalistic controller, but also how it was offset by the Remote app for iPhone. But before I could use the Remote app, I’d have to connect the Apple TV to the wireless 802.11n network.

Here began my woes for the afternoon: painstakingly typing in a 13-char alphanumeric passkey, one letter at a ridiculously slow time, and lo and behold, the Apple TV says “failed to connect. Check password.” (or something to that effect). No problem, must have miskeyed the passkey, right? Try again…. and same thing. Once more for good measure – but alas, it was not to be.

Instantly, my mind began racing. Is this a faulty unit? Is it incompatible with my Tomato wi-fi settings? Is it buggy coding unable to distinguish between the identically-named 802.11g and 802.11n networks my dual-mode router is putting out? Regardless, it was time to break out a network cable and see what we can do.

Network cable connected, I was able to finally to get the Remote app to work, but not before having to enter a few more lengthy usernames and passwords for the Apple ID verification and bonding process.

Playing off my earlier suspicion that the issue was relating to glitchy software unable to handle the 802.11n wi-fi connection, I decided to check for software updates. I thought it was a moot point; Apple products are famous for not sitting on the shelves too long, and I bought mine from a very popular Apple store (Naperville, IL). They’re almost always up to date on software updates, and the latest Apple TV update (5.1) was issued almost a month ago.

To my surprise, luckily there was a software update available. 5.1 began to download, while I quickly checked out the changelog on the Apple website for the Apple TV software releases. There was no mention of any wi-fi connection issues, but 5.1 did introduce new network profile support via the Apple Configurator app, so I figured worst comes to worst, I could at least try use the Apple Configurator app on my MacBook to create a network profile and hope for a change.

I made sure the update did not end when I moved away from the update menu – it continued to download as expected. Things looking up? I just browsed the other settings and features, making sure not to start playing a movie or save any changes. I went back to check the update progress, only to find that it had been entirely cancelled!

So I begrudgingly started the update progress again, this time leaving it at the update screen and not venturing to risk navigating to a different page. The update progress took a full 45 minutes to reach complete… only to switch to a “now installing, stage 1 of 2 screen.” 45 minutes to download an update on a 50mbps wired connection? Hmmm.

Stage 1 of 2 took an additional 30-35 minutes, at which time the device rebooted into “stage 2″ – which looks just like the loading screen after applying an iOS update to an iPhone. I figured this would go through quickly enough, but it must have been another 15-20 minutes before it *finally* loaded to the main screen.

I decided I would try the wi-fi configuration again w/ the ethernet cable plugged in so I’d at least have use of the Remote app on the iPhone to type in the wi-fi passkey as many times as it took, but Apple TV doesn’t let you configure wi-fi connections if you’re already connected via ethernet. Obviously, I can understand the reasons behind this (and it makes sense, too!), but I was not looking forward to more pecking and hunting away on the on-screen keyboard.

So with a deep sigh of regret and much anguish as well as a few choice words for Apple, I begrudgingly unplugged the ethernet cable, used the Apple TV remote to navigate to the network settings page, just to find out that…. it was successfully connected to the wireless network I’d previously configured which it had adamantly insisted I’d configured improperly and did not provide the correct passkeys for.

Once it was up and running though, I must say, I don’t regret the purchase. It’s gorgeous, it’s easy to use, the Netflix, Trailers, Photostream, and Radio apps are beautiful, functional, and very intuitive. I can configure it to never sleep/shut down without worrying about electricity (1 to 2 watts idle? that’s 1 to 2 dollars a year!), thereby having one less device to power up when I want to watch something *now*. But the unboxing? Probably one of the most frustrating and disappointing experiences of my tech career. A complete antithema to the traditional Apple unboxing and setup experience that left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Follow Mahmoud on twitter at @mqudsi and NeoSmart Technologies @neosmart!

Today’s the big day: Windows 8 has hit the shelves and customers are flocking to buy the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system. In the back of everyone’s mind is the big question: what do I do to properly set up my Windows 8 installation, and in the (hopefully unlikely) situation of disaster, if I can no longer get into my Windows 8 PC, what can I do about it?

All of NeoSmart Technologies products are 100% Windows 8 ready. They’ve all been vetted and heavily tested against the latest version of the Windows OS and have been updated with all the features you require for peace of mind. They’ll help you get your system working the way you want it, and then God forbid something bad happen, get you back on your feet as soon as possible.

EasyBCD

EasyBCD is our popular boot manager application. EasyBCD 2.2, only recently released, will help you create customized Windows 8 boot profiles. You can do things like install Windows 8 next to your existing Windows 7 install without overwriting it,  create Safe Mode recovery entries for Windows 8, and change the way the new Windows 8 bootloader and boot menu look and work.

Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows 8

Our famous Windows recovery and repair CDs from SystemDiscs.com have also been updated for Windows 8. Most PCs no longer come with recovery CDs/DVDs and leave you on your own when your PC goes belly-up due to a virus, a failed Windows Update, or a chain of unfortunate events and sheer bad luck. These CDs will help you get back on your feet, first allowing you to secure your important data and ensure your vital pictures, documents, and files are not lost; then by automatically searching for and repairing many common issues that stop Windows from running. You can also use them to browse the web, partition your disk, or access System Restore.

iReboot

Devotees of iReboot will be glad to hear it’s still going strong, and works perfectly with Windows 8. You can use it to quickly switch operating systems between Windows 8 and anything else you may have installed alongside it, bypassing the boot menu entirely and just jumping from one OS to the other.

Download EasyBCD

Download Windows 8 Recovery CD

Download iReboot

Bonus Links

• Windows 8 wallpaper download
• Support forums for all your Windows 8 needs

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be joining in the Cyber Monday fun: this year, all our system recovery and repair CDs at SystemDiscs.com are 15% off for Cyber Monday!

This one-day only sale is your chance to grab a copy of a system recovery CD and prepare for a rainy day. Protect against future damage with our powerful repair and recovery CDs, and burn a copy of Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows to keep handy for the next time your system won’t boot because of a virus, failed Windows update, or other unfortunate incident.

Are you expecting a copy of Windows 8 for Christmas? Even the best laid plans can go awry, this is the perfect time to protect against a system upgrade gone wrong. EasyRE for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 can get your PC back up and running from the brink of disaster, helping you roll back to before system boot BSODs, backup and recover your important pictures, music, files, and movies, automatically search for and fix many issues that prevent Windows from loading or starting correctly, and more.

Take advantage of this one-day sale and save! The recovery software can be burned to a CD or a USB, and you’ll be thankful you purchased it today the next time your PC can’t boot and you have no way of downloading and burning a repair CD to fix it with.

SystemDiscs Cyber Monday Sale

A new EasyRE for Windows is here, and it’s better than ever. With support for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and now Server 2003, 2008, and 2012, we have you covered. No matter what OS you’re running, no matter what problems you’re running into, our recovery CDs for Windows will help you get back on your feet.

Easy Recovery Essentials remains the first and only Windows 8-ready system recovery disk, and now we’re making this powerful product available to system admins everywhere. The next time an update or poor program takes your servers offline, EasyRE will be there to lend a hand.

In other exciting news, the new EasyRE Professional Edition features a full-fledged virus scanner – sometimes it’s not enough to just set things right, you also need to stop them from going wrong again!

Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows Demo

Windows Server Recovery Discs

I’ve been watching Star Trek reruns (thank you, Netflix!) for a while now, and something that caught my eye once I finished TNG and moved on to DS9 was the prevalence of “eBook readers” that have an uncanny resemblance to Amazon’s Kindle.

The devices in DS9 appear to undergo both heavy and subtle changes each time they make an appearance, but one edition of the eBook reader in Star Trek DS9: Profit and Loss bore an incredible resemblance to the (previous gen) Kindle Touch, down to the same gray polymer material, rounded edges, almost exactly the same thickness and dimensions – with the exception of being in color.

The following are screenshots of Odo with said device, reading what he says is a copy of Mickey Spillane’s I, the Jury (1947):

Interesting, no? Just one of the many things about the Star Trek series that was way ahead of its time! Keep in mind that this episode aired March 1994, when the closest thing the world had seen to such a device would probably have been the Apple Newton.

A few years ago while working on another boot-related project, I had need of a scripted method of formatting a drive, silently and without user intervention (don’t ask).

After mucking around with the various IOCTL in the disk and volume management WIN32 APIs, I realized there was a much easier method. Windows has always shipped with a command-line format utility (aptly named “format”) that could technically be coerced err convinced to do the job.

The only problem with format.com is its (understandable) reluctance to actually wipe a disk without the user explicitly OKing it. At the same time, there are quite a few developers out there doing low-level work that does not involve viruses or other malicious intent that are in need of a scripted format run. And, of course, the expectation is that the developer will obtain the user’s permission beforehand.

However when all is said and done, there’s no clean way of formatting a disk behind the scenes. Enter AutoFormat for Windows.

AutoFormat is a Windows utility to programmatically format a disk without user intervention. This is basically the Windows format utility somewhat lobotomized to “forget” to ask a user for permission before formatting a disk. It goes without saying: be careful when running using AutoFormat.com, and use at your own mortal peril!

AutoFormat.com takes exactly the same command-line parameters as the bog-standard format.com, and is for all intents and purposes one and the same – except it will not wait for the user’s say-so before formatting the target volume. It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS.

Again, one last time: don’t use this for malicious intent (and don’t tell us if you do; we’ll be forced to take this down). This software shall be used for Good and not Evil. You shall only use this on a genuinely licensed copy of Windows.

And without further ado:

AutoFormat for Windows

Welcome to the future. Ever since 2000, EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) has struggled to replace the decades-old BIOS, and now, some 13 years later, it’s finally really here. More than ever before, new computers, laptops, notebooks, and other computing devices are being shipped that use an entirely new and very much different technology as the foundation that powers the actual hardware, sitting between your motherboard/CPU and the operating system.

EFI is pretty nifty and very powerful, and opens a lot of new and exciting possibilities for your computer. It lets Windows theoretically boot faster than ever before, and can protect your computer against malware and viruses thanks to enhanced security features like signed bootloaders. And for Windows users, EFI means GPT (GUID Partition Table) instead of MBR (Master Boot Record). Abbreviations got you confused? Don’t worry – it just means that your computer now supports hard disks that are bigger than ever before (more than 2TiB in size!).

But all this comes at a very heavy cost. Like we said, (U)EFI and GPT are radically different from what we had before. Naturally, this means that there are also fewer resources, tools, and utilities for dealing with this new technology; but today, all that changes.

We’re proud to introduce the latest version of our Windows Recovery Discs; as of version 4.1, Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows now has full and 100% complete support for the latest EFI machines running on GPT disks. To our knowledge, EasyRE is actually the first EFI repair product of its kind! It does what even Microsoft’s official setup and repair CDs can’t: when your EFI machine won’t boot to Windows, our recovery CDs will automatically search for defects in the EFI boot chain, reconfigure your GPT-based partitions as needed, and get you back into Windows!!

We’re excited to be at the forefront of this new technology, and hope to be there for PC users when their brand new PCs suddenly stop booting due to viruses, failed Windows Updates, buggy software, or sheer bad luck. Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, as well as Server 2003, 2008, and 2012! EFI support is fully functional for Windows Vista/Server 2008 and above.

Download EFI Repair CDs for Windows

As everyone knows, today’s the year’s most awesome holiday: Pi Day. Happy Pi Day 2013 to one and all, please don’t forget to enjoy yourself whilst engaging in the geekiest activities you can think of. And, above all, remember to to eat pie!

A year ago, Google’s incredibly thorough April Fools’ 2013 prank would have easily won the title of awesomest April Fools’ prank ever. But today? Maybe not.

This year’s prank is a video talking about how today, 8 years from the launch of YouTube, YouTube will no longer be accepting videos:

Short and long of it:

• It’s been 8 years with an average of 70 hours of video uploaded each minute (~560 years of footage in all, for those wondering)
• YouTube is/was one big contest to find the best video ever
• Tonight at midnight (April 1st, 2013) YouTube will accept videos no more
• Site will be back online in 2023 showing only the one, winning video

If this was Google’s 2012 April Fool’s prank, it would be hilarious. But today? In light of the very much real shut down of Google Reader?

Is this Google taking the recent outrage over the death of Google Reader and 38 other services (and many smaller ones) Google has killed over the years? It’s nice that they have a jolly enough spirit to make fun of themselves, but with Larry Page at the Helm, it really is not such a huge leap of imagination to see YouTube suddenly at risk of extinction. Perhaps that‘s what the empty grave in Slate’s Google Graveyard is actually reserved for.

Obviously Google isn’t going to shutter YouTube, but the point is, no one really knows what they will or won’t kill next. All in all, bad timing on Google’s behalf; this year’s April Fools’ prank is no joking matter. Is it any surprise the interwebs are full of YouTube addicts suddenly seriously fearing for the future of their cat videos, racist comments, and déjà vu video clips?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve certainly seen all the hullaballoo that took place when Google shut down Google Reader for good. Aside from being a damn good RSS web-based reader, it was very importantly, so popular that and backed by a company so huge that it basically killed off all its competitors without even trying.

People have been panicking about the so-called “death of RSS” ever since. RSS has a special place in our hearts, we think the idea behind a simple, standardized, freely-accessible stream of updates for just any website is a confluence of awesomeness that only comes around once in a blue moon. In other words: if RSS dies today, it’s not because something equally awesome has replaced it. Anyone equating RSS with Twitter streams (where stuff is virtually designed to be lost in the madness) and Facebook “feeds” (accessible only to friends, at the mercy of Facebook Inc) has no clue what they are talking about.

The writing has been on the wall for months, and pretty much everyone has come to suspect the next shoe will soon drop and Google will kill FeedBurner (the equivalent of Google Reader for website publishers) in the next round of “spring cleaning.” Google purchased Chicago-based startup (yay Windy City!) FeedBurner from its founders back in 2007, and ever since has been disabling and dismembering it, one feature at a time. Today, FeedBurner is only a sorry reminder of it once was.

To that end, we are happy to introduce today FeedSnap.

FeedSnap’s goal is simple: to provide a reliable, capable, and actively maintained FeedBurner replacement for your beloved RSS feed. Take it from people that know what it’s like to serve a feed with 600,000 subscribers: it ain’t easy. Each of those clients is hitting your server every 5 or 10 minutes, demanding new content. Your viewers want to be able to preview the feed in their browser, only web browser in general have dropped support for RSS feeds as well. You want to keep track of who’s reading what and clicking through to where. FeedSnap is your answer.

Our goal isn’t to just stop with providing a worthy replacement to the once-awesome FeedBurner; the grand scheme is to revive much of what has been lost since the RSS heyday. We’ve talked before about the need for tagging standards (awesome /. discussion here) and there’s a lot of potential for structured data feeds for popular content around the web. Companies like Technorati tried but ultimately failed to bring order to the madness, the sheer quantity of web feeds made the task of sorting through the data all but impossible. Only time will tell what can be accomplished, but for now, if you need a safe place to trust your feed and your readers to, FeedSnap is the man for the job.

• Feeds are served by a global CDN, from nodes all over the world. No load on your servers, snappy feeds, and optimized delivery.
• Track subscribers and monitor trends in RSS delivery.
• Record views of feed entries.
• See clickthrough rates on all individual posts to monitor conversions back to your site or blog.
• Show off your reader count with our FeedCount widgets.
• Import your existing statistics from FeedBurner.
• Tell the world RSS isn’t dead yet!

Check out FeedSnap!

One of the basic principles of computer security is that if someone has physical access to a machine, compromising it is simply a matter of time (yes, even technologies like whole-disk encryption via GPG/PGP, BitLocker, or TrueCrypt are often still susceptible to “Evil Maid” attacks). But while all devices are vulnerable to hands-on attacks, some devices are more vulnerable than others.

Innocuous-looking USB accessories for both PCs and smartphones have long been a preferred for attacks aiming to gain unauthorized access to a machine. Devices that look like USB sticks can easily direct a computer they’re plugged into to dump data to an external device or online file storage by mimicking a keyboard/mouse, an attack no antivirus or antimalware software can prevent. Smartphones have been susceptible to similar attacks, even from something as seemingly-innocent as a regular phone charger. These hardware-based attacks have been well-documented, and while a passcode on the device can mitigate such attempts, it’s no cure-all.

With iOS 7, Apple has introduced a new feature called “trusted devices” which requires the user to actually authorize the attached USB “charger”/accessory to access data on the device. When plugging in an iPhone to a computer (or a computer masquerading as a charger), the user sees a prompt as in the screen below:

Trust the currently connected computer?

Trusting this computer will allow it full access to your device and all of its data.

This prompt is only shown on an unlocked iPhone and until the user selects the “trust” option, the iPhone will treat the connected accessory as a “dumb” power source and not present any USB mass storage device interfaces, rendering USB-based attacks to a (locked) iPhone ineffective.

Combined with some of the other security improvements shipped in the next iOS update (“Find my iPhone” enabled even after full device format, iTunes account-based activation lock after full format, etc.), iOS 7 is shaping up to be the most security-centric release to date.

One of the few products at Google that doesn’t stagnate and is always seeing new features, improvements, and changes (sometimes so often that it gives the appearance of being change for the sake of change to the furor and anger of some extremely-vocal hard-core users) is Gmail.

Today, Google is apparently rolling out a new feature that we haven’t seen before, and are actually at a loss when it comes to giving it an appropriate name.

Gmail is now showing “inlined action popups” based on the content of the emails (esp. automated written-by-robot emails), not too unlike some of the context-derived links/summaries in the sidebar that have been around for years now, except you don’t have to open the emails to gain access to them, and they’re just a convenient mouse click away. Pictures after the jump.

Here’s a screenshot of actions for Amazon¹ (order tracking) and UPS (delivery tracking):

Here’s a screenshot of these actions for Gmail’s DocuSign integration:

Unlike some of the new changes in Gmail, this one could be a rather welcome change. In what appears to be a reversal of trends at Gmail, these action popups can certainly be claimed as a victory for function over form.

This feature is apparently being rolled out on an accelerated rate, and is popping up for both personal and business/enterprise Gmail accounts. How do you feel about this new feature? What other email “actions” are supported by Gmail have you seen? Leave a comment below and share with us!

1. Pictured: The Count of Monte Cristo and Wisdom from the Oval Office. ↩

Seit Windows Vista hat Microsoft es nicht mehr möglich, eine “Reparatur-Installation” (auch als “in-Place-Upgrade” bezeichnet) von Windows auszuführen. Stattdessen wird das Windows-Setup-DVD bietet nun eine Funktion namens “Startup Repair”, mit dem eine (begrenzte) Anzahl von Reparatur-und Recovery-Optionen ausprobiert werden können. [Laden sie hier boot reparatur].

Leider bekommen die meisten Menschen Windows 7, wenn sie einen neuen Computer oder Laptop zu kaufen. Und eine wachsende Zahl von PC-Herstellern – darunter Dell, Acer, Asus, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, Samsung und vieles mehr – nicht mehr geben dem Kunden eine Kopie des Windows-Installations-CD, wenn sie einen neuen PC zu kaufen. Das Problem ist, dass ohne diese CD, im Katastrophenfall Benutzer keine Möglichkeit versuchen, ihren PC zu reparieren, und sind oft gezwungen, entweder nehmen Sie es zur Reparatur oder kaufen einen neuen PC zusammen. Auch wenn Sie eine Kopie der Windows-Installations-DVD haben, “Startup Repair” können nur fix eine sehr kleine und begrenzte Anzahl von Problemen verhindern, dass ein PC von der Arbeit.

Wenn Ihr PC nicht richtig funktioniert, ist Easy Recovery Essentials für Windows die Lösung. EasyRE ist ein Reparatur-und Wiederherstellungs-CD für Windows 7 und ermöglicht den Zugriff auf einige sehr mächtige Tools und Utilities, um Ihren PC arbeiten noch einmal. In 9 von 10 Fällen, den Computer reparieren ist so einfach wie das Brennen der Recovery-CD auf einen Rohling, Hochfahren von ihm, die Auswahl der Antrieb zu reparieren und dann nur zuschauen und warten, wie es scannt automatisch Ihre Laufwerke für Hunderte von bekannten Problemen, finden und reparieren sie, wie es entlang geht, mit absolut keiner Intervention oder früheren technischen Support Fachwissen benötigt.

Die Reparatur-CDs bieten eine automatische Reparatur für gemeinsame Boot-Probleme, die die Festplatte, MBR, Bootsektor, Partitionen, Dateisystem, Bootloader, und vieles mehr. Abgesehen von schnell Diagnose und Reparatur dieser Probleme (darunter viele Blue Screens of Death), EasyRE verfügt auch über eine Reihe von wertvollen Komponenten, die Festsetzung Ihrem PC erschwinglich und einfach zu machen selbst tun. Mit der bootfähigen Windows-Reparatur-CD, können Sie die Systemwiederherstellung verwenden, um Ihren PC zu einem betriebsbereiten Zustand zurückspulen aus der Zeit vor dem letzten Update, Virus oder installieren, dass es nicht mehr funktioniert. Wenn ein Computer nicht funktioniert, ist es oft wichtig, darauf zugreifen und sichern Sie Ihre wichtigen und unersetzlichen Dokumente, Fotos, Musik und andere wertvolle Dateien selbst, bevor Sie eine Reparatur.

EasyRE können Sie kopieren Sie Ihre Dateien auf einer externen USB-Laufwerk sicherstellen, dass Ihre Dateien nicht verloren gehen, auch wenn Ihre Windows-Installation nicht repariert werden kann. Die professionelle Version dieser Windows-Reparatur-CD können Sie auch scannen Sie Ihren Computer auf Viren und Trojaner. Da die Antiviren-Software in gebootet wird und nicht installiert, sondern auch komplett umgeht Rootkits und anderen Viren, die regelmäßige tricky Antiviren-Produkte von der Suche und Beseitigung von Malware und anderen Infektionen von Ihrem PC zu verhindern.

Unser Windows-System Recovery Disk kommt sogar mit einem Web-Browser, so dass Sie das Internet für Ratschläge zur Fehlerbehebung suchen können und sogar Ihren Computer verwenden, um im Internet zu surfen oder E-Mails abrufen – auch wenn Sie nicht in Windows zu bekommen kann! Diese Windows 7 Reparatur CDs wurden in enger Abstimmung mit den IT-Experten und großen Computer-Hard-und Software-Herstellern auf der ganzen Welt, um Lösungen für gemeinsame Probleme zu schaffen entwickelt und spart Ihnen wertvolle Zeit und Geld, indem Sie reparieren Ihren PC selbst mit einem einzigen Klick statt der Einnahme Ihren Computer mit dem lokalen Werkstatt.

Laden Sie die Windows-Recovery-CD bestellen!

Book shoppers on Amazon (remember when Amazon used to be “just” an online bookstore?) will be happy to hear that Amazon.com has a pretty interesting offer: buy a book now, and start reading it instantly while you wait for it to arrive in the mail. Of course, Amazon recently announced the availability of Kindle MatchBook, its program to offer heavily-discounted Kindle editions of books Amazon customers have previously purchased.

Upon placing an order for (select) books on Amazon, on the Thank You page you’ll be informed that a free “sample copy” of the same book has been made available to you on your Kindle or your Kindle account, should you wish to claim it:

The “Start Reading” button displays the following when clicked:

You can read the beginning of your purchased book(s) instantly online. When you click to start reading, Kindle Cloud Reader will launch in your web browser, and your free Kindle book sample will be available in your Kindle library. You can also access your Kindle book samples with Kindle for Android or Kindle for iOS. For more information, click here.

When the “Start Reading” button is clicked, the customer is taken to read.amazon.com with the book automatically loaded, and a copy of the sample is also made available on the linked Kindle account.

Interesting facts:

• The amount of the book made available is a severe disappointment. In this case, it was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wonderful The Great Gatsby, ¹ but only the first 9 out of the 191 pages are included in the so-called “sample”. It’s unknown who determines the length of this sample (Amazon, the publisher, or someone else?) and how much (if at all) the length varies from one book to another. In this case, it is approximately ⅓ of the first chapter – in other words, not very much at all.
• Surprise: it works after buying a (used) copy of the eligible book(s) from 3rd party sellers, too! Even though the Kindle Matchbook program is only offered for shoppers that bought via Amazon.com itself, the “start reading now” offer is valid no matter whom you bought the books from. Perhaps given how disappointing the “sample” is, that’s not as big of a deal as it could have been.
• It appears that if you do not take advantage of the “Start Reading” button/link when it is presented on the Thank You page immediately after placing your order, there is no way to go back and obtain Kindle access — so make it a point to click “Start Reading” the next time you see it!

1. Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby ↩

下载我们的恢复和修复磁盘微软Windows Vista （也适用于Windows 7 ， 8 ， XP或Server版本），可用于访问系统恢复工具，让您使用防病毒的选项，系统还原，文件和图片的备份和恢复，自动系统修复，以及一个命令行提示符手动高级恢复。

下载恢复盘适用于Windows Vista

易回收精华（或EasyRE ）是55至135 MIB下载图像随时可以直接刻录到CD，DVD或USB记忆棒。易回收要领功能包括：

• 自动查找并修复错误
• 工作原理，甚至当你不能进入Windows
• 从病毒感染中恢复
• 恢复您的PC到工作状态
• 访问和备份您的重要数据
• 使用你的电脑，即使它不工作

磁盘进行恢复和修复

如果你像大多数PC用户，你可能得到的Windows Vista使用新的PC或笔记本电脑。如果你像99 ％的人口，你的主要生产厂家之一得到你的新机器。

戴尔，宏碁，惠普，东芝，联想，它们都有一个共同点：他们不给你一个真正的Windows Vista安装盘与您的购买。

相反，他们捆绑他们所谓的“复盘” （如果你很幸运，是的 – 否则你就会有一个恢复分区代替）与您的机器，离开它。

不要紧，你只是付了一千块钱的机器，配备了一个有效的Windows Vista授权 – 您的电脑制造商只是不想花这个钱（或者承担责任）给予您在Windows Vista安装DVD陪你昂贵的购买。

问题是，与Windows Vista ，安装媒体提供一个以上的目的。这不只是为了让安装Windows的方法，这也是回收borked安装的唯一途径。

该DVD有一个“恢复中心” ，为您提供通过自动恢复（搜索问题，并尝试自动修复它们）回收系统的选项，滚动回一个系统还原点，恢复一个完整的PC备份，或访问一个命令行恢复控制台，高级恢复的目的。

下载恢复盘适用于Windows Vista

易回收精华修复过程是无损，恢复电脑没有格式化或者重新安装Windows 。

强大的修复过程可以解决很多问题，微软自己的启动修复不能。除了业界领先的自动修复功能，该磁盘会给你访问以下内容：

• 系统还原
• Web浏览器
• 分区编辑器
• 防病毒扫描
• 数据/文件备份和恢复
• 命令行/终端访问

下载轻松的恢复要点适用于Windows Vista

我们的恢复盘支持x86和x64平台和所有的Windows Vista版本，包括32位和64位版本：

• Windows Vista旗舰版（ 32位和64位版本）
• Windows Vista企业版（ 32位和64位版本）
• Windows Vista商业版（ 32位和64位版本）
• Windows Vista家庭高级版（32位和64位版本）
• 视窗Vista家庭基本版（ 32位和64位版本）
• Windows Vista的启动器（ 32位版本）

和所有的Service Pack中：

• Windows Vista服务包1 （SP1）
• Windows Vista服务包2（SP2）

本光盘为120 MIB下载标准的ISO格式，你需要刻录到CD或DVD之前，你可以使用它作为一个可引导的恢复介质。您也可以将其刻录在USB记忆棒。

刻录到CD，DVD或USB记忆棒

NeoSmart技术已出版关于如何刻录ISO镜像刻录到CD或DVD与你喜爱的刻录程序，它可以读取，如果你需要更多信息或有关此主题的帮助指导。您可以用ImgBurn的，酒精120 ％或ActiveISO烧了它.

您也可以将其刻录在USB记忆棒，如果你不希望使用CD或DVD 。我们出版了做一个EasyRE恢复USB的指南。

兼容于PC制造商

这种恢复和修复磁盘是台式机，工作站，笔记本电脑，笔记本电脑，上网本，来自各大PC厂商的Ultrabook和服务器，如戴尔，惠普，华硕，宏碁或联想以及更多兼容。

戴尔，惠普，华硕，宏碁

戴尔

磁盘与所有戴尔笔记本电脑和台式电脑，包括其所有生产的系列，如Adamo的，的Inspiron ， Studio中的Vostro ， XPS ，纬度兼容。

惠普

磁盘与HP电脑兼容：羡慕， EliteBook系列，居家必备，展馆和x2的笔记本电脑和羡慕，居家必备和Pavilion台式机和所有功能于一台台式电脑。

华硕

这是一个与笔记本电脑，超级本，笔记本和台式机华硕兼容。

它适用于由华硕制造的任何一台计算机，如果它运行的是Windows XP，VISTA ， 7 ， 8或以下的Windows Server版本：2003 ，2008 ， 2012

宏碁

它与具有Windows安装，包括这些生产系列中的任何宏碁电脑兼容：

• 的Aspire R，的Aspire V3与Aspire E的笔记本电脑
• 向往S7 ， S5的Aspire方面，Aspire S3 ，卓望P，的Aspire M，的Aspire 2013 ，的Aspire V5超薄电脑
• 的Aspire One上网本
• 的Aspire M和T，的Aspire X和捕食者G代表桌面

联想，东芝，三星

联想

您也可以下载修复磁盘的任何联想电脑，如：

• ThinkPad的，的IdeaPad ，基本系列笔记本电脑
• THINKCENTRE ， IDEACENTRE和Essentials系列台式电脑

东芝

这是一个与任何运行Windows的东芝电脑兼容：

• 卫星，东芝Qosmio ，的Portege ， TECRA ，基拉家族系列
• 所有功能于一体台式机系列

三星

磁盘是符合三星的笔记本电脑和台式机兼容，其中包括：

• ATIV书，游戏和商务PC系列笔记本电脑
• ATIV我为人人- in-One的台式机

IBM， COMPAQ ， GATEWAY ， EMACHINES

IBM

IBM个人电脑事业部于2005年收购了联想。

这个磁盘支持IBM的台式机和笔记本电脑型号，最引人注目的是ThinkPad产品线。

康柏

康柏于2002年被惠普收购，但一些著名的电脑线系列仍在我们的客户使用。

我们的磁盘可与康柏笔记本电脑和台式电脑，包括康柏Presario系列。

网关

网关计算机是在2007年收购了宏碁。

我们的磁盘是网关电脑上网，笔记本电脑和台式机电脑，如兼容：

• 系列SX ， DX和ZX一个桌面系统
• NE和NV系列笔记本
• LT系列上网本

eMachines

eMachines的电脑被制造，直到2004年，网关电脑所带来的公司。网关计算机后来被宏碁在2007年收购，但eMachines的PC品牌使用到2012年。

如果你拥有一台计算机从这台计算机的品牌，我们的磁盘与eMachines的电脑兼容。

磁盘的Windows 7 ， 8 ， XP或Server版本

Windows 7

你可以得到我们的恢复盘适用于Windows 7支持的所有版本：旗舰版，企业版，专业版，家庭高级版，家庭基础版和精简。Download for Windows 7.

Windows 8

您也可以得到恢复盘为Windows 8 。
Download for Windows 8.

Windows XP

容易恢复Essentials是可用于Windows XP的用户，它支持所有的服务包：服务包1 （ SP1）的Service Pack 2（SP2）和Service Pack 3 （ SP3） 。

Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012

易回收精华支持微软的Windows Server版本：2003年，2008年和2012年。

支持

我们的磁盘支持所有的Windows服务包（Windows XP SP1 ， Windows XP SP2中的Windows XP SP3 ， Windows Vista SP1的中，Windows Vista SP2 ， Windows 7的SP1中，Windows 7 SP2中，Windows 8.1 ，在Windows Server 2003 R2的Windows Server 2008 R2和在Windows Server 2012 R2 。

Google Voice, once a very promising voice over IP (VoIP) service with lots of potential and nowhere to go but up, has languished untapped and unmaintained for years. It seems that today — and apparently thanks to Google’s focus on the Google+ social network — Google Voice is finally being revisited and possibly even revived from its years in slumber as Google explores the integration of voice calls into its Google+ Hangouts feature.

Google Voice, originally known as GrandCentral, was first created in 2005 and existed as a standalone VoIP solution until 2009, when GrandCentral was purchased by Google. The takeover by Google was short and sad: GrandCentral was rebranded Google Voice and launched with much hoopla and fanfare, even debuting on NBC’s Today Show on June 25, 2009. From there, the only changes GrandCentral saw as it was turned into Google Voice was a name change and constant reduction in features, remaining yet another awkward step-child in the ever-growing portfolio of startups Google purchased and could not decide what to do with.

This isn’t the first time Google Voice has had life re-breathed into it — in 2010, after Google’s acquisition of Gizmo5, Google announced the rollout of voice calls from within Gmail, building off of efforts to integrate Google Voice with Gmail via a Gmail Labs extension. However, Gmail’s voice integration was the beginning and end of the story, bringing thousands, nay millions, of new subscribers to the service but never expanding it beyond that.

You would be excused for assuming, despite today’s news of Google Voice integration in Google+ Hangouts and free calls for Google+ users, that Google Voice wouldn’t see any changes or improvements nevertheless — after all, Gmail’s Google Voice integration came and went and nothing came of it. But it seems that this time, there may be cause for hope after all. Today, Google has also rolled out updates to the Google Voice client on iOS, taking it from a kludgy, pre-retina heap of rotting, unmaintained code to a shiny new interface complete with a new icon to boot.

Some eye candy from the latest release:

At this point, anything could happen. Google could decide that this is enough and phones are dead or dying anyway and Google Voice could go back to the forgotten depths of the deep web, or this could be the start of something big and Google Voice can truly become the king VoIP interface solution to rule them all. Only time will tell.

What do you think will happen? Share your insight, feedback, and oracle divinations below.

Yesterday, Microsoft somewhat unexpectedly made available¹ a preview of the next version of Windows – official Windows 10 and codenamed Windows “Threshold” – on its website for immediate download to the general public.

Today, we take a quick look at some of changes and new features that have made their way into Windows 10. As various “leaks” from within Microsoft had made clear, the biggest changes are going to be in the areas of UX and UI, as Windows is toned-down to become less alien for its long-term userbase that has clung on to Windows 7 for dear life, looking in utmost horror at the completely foreign landscape that is the Windows 8 metro desktop. Microsoft had previously made some steps to assuage these fears and boost adoption of Windows 8 with Windows 8.1, going so far as to make it possible to (finally!) disable the metro desktop on startup but refusing to bring back the start menu. Well, don’t let it be said that people can’t make a stand by boycotting with their wallet – the lackluster adoption of Windows 8 and then Windows 8.1 has thoroughly convinced Microsoft (and its new head, Satya Nadella) to release a somewhat more-sane Windows.

Without any further ado, we’ll start with a gallery of screenshots taken from the new Tech Preview:

There are a lot of mixed signals here, and some behavior we can only hope is left over from Windows 8 and will see its way out at some point during the remainder of the beta stage. It’s a little hard to summarize in text, so here are some bullet point ideas/notes about the new build:

• It boots to the desktop. The desktop! And it has a start menu! Yes!
• The start menu (see above) is a little too crowded, no? It seems very messy, and the items Microsoft has chosen to include in the start menu by default are an.. interesting choice.
• The ribbon UI is still clunky and crowded when used in places it doesn’t belong (yes, I’m looking at you, explorer.exe).
• The option to revert to the “start screen” instead of the start menu is still there, though thankfully disabled by default.
• Enabling the start screen (and disabling the start menu) triggers a logout/login still logging you in to the desktop but then showing the start screen when the winkey is pressed (or the start menu is triggered).
• Windows 10 reports itself as Windows 6.4… for now?
• The “Seattle start screen” is kind of (a lot?) depressing, what with the gloomy orange-y sun and all. Quite different from the vibrant one.
• Applications that used to make us shudder in horror as they yanked one from the desktop to the Metro la-la land/house of horrors still behave a little weird. For example, Calculator launches full-screen by default (still in the desktop, though!) and takes up (unnecessarily!) the entire screen. Double-clicking on it to bring it back to a sane size shrinks the actual calculator, but the app window itself remains far too big.
• Speaking of app window sizes, “metro-esque” apps don’t have a proper resize window handler, you need to hover to the precise pixel to get the drag handle for resize to show.
• The traditional calc.exe is still available and looks just like it did in Windows 7 – so two apps, both in desktop mode, but different skins. The “metro” one is the one you see first in the start menu, however. Confusing, no?
• Speaking of “metro” – what do we call these things? Why do they exist? They’re apps that still have the metro look and feel, but they live in the desktop now, “co-existing” somewhat-peacefully with everything else; but meaning there’s a lot of duplication going on here. Shouldn’t they be disabled for desktop mode?
• EasyBCD runs just fine on Windows Technical Preview, and the new 2.3 beta plays nicely with the Windows 10 boot loader (yes, it still uses the metro bootloader UI for now. No word on if/when that will change).

These are just some first thoughts on Windows 10, expect more as we spend more time with it and see how it feels for daily use. It’s honestly not too bad, but certainly needs some TLC from the guys at the “making things look sane and pretty and not overwhelming” department. It’s certainly nowhere near as foreign as Windows 8, feels pretty snappy, and actually resembles what one would expect from a successor to Windows 7. If it just gives us all the under-the-hood improvements Windows 8 brought without the hideous UI and the horrid UX nightmare, we’ll be happy.

Stay in tune for under-the-hood updates. We’re anxious to delve deeper into the new command prompt, changes to ReFS and Storage Spaces, new WIN32 APIs in Windows 10, and more.

Psst: can you keep a secret? We’ll be posting about the new icons in Windows 10 soon. We’ll tell you in advance: they’re pretty! (but alas, inconsistent, but what’s new in the land of Windows where consistency is considered a baking term only?)

1. The release yesterday of the Windows “Threshold” Technical Preview itself was not unexpected, but the sudden springing of the entire Windows 10 affair on the tech community this week most certainly was! ↩