SkyDrive vs Google Drive vs Dropbox vs Apple iCloud- Comparison

With the release of Google drive, the cloud storage competition has become more intense. Microsoft's SkyDrive had released a desktop version for Mac and Windows just before the release of Google Drive. There has also been discussions on privacy policy and terms of use of Google drive. Now as a user which cloud storage is good for you? Each one has its own advantages and improvement areas, so there isn't one clear winner here. But Microsoft has put up a comparison chart for SkyDrive, iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive. Since the comparison is from Microsoft, obviously the winner would be SkyDrive. Storage wise, SkyDrive is the best as it offers more GBs than others and is also priced lowest when compared to the market leader Dropbox. SkyDrive does not have an Android app, but you can check the alternatives here. So its now up to the users to decide on which is good for them. Thanks Neowin

How To Upgrade Your SkyDrive Account From 7 GB To 25 GB For Free

Microsoft has just released SkyDrive client application for Windows, Windows Phone, Mac OS X Lion, and iOS operating systems. The SkyDrive client lets users to access, browse and upload files to your SkyDrive account without leaving the desktop and offers 7 GB storage space for free.

Users who need more storage space can purchase paid storage. You can add +20 GB to your account by paying $10/year, add 50 GB by paying $25/year or 100 GB by paying $50/year. While Microsoft claims that 99.4% of the users use of 7GB or less space, it would be nice if Microsoft offered 25 GB as free storage space.

 

Now the good news is that Microsoft is offering 25 GB free space for loyal SkyDrive users. Just follow the instructions given below to upgrade your SkyDrive account storage space from the initial 7 GB to 25 GB for free!

 

 

Step 1: Visit this page, download the setup file and install SkyDrive client on your PC.

 

Step 2: Once installed and running, right-click on the SkyDrive application icon in the system tray (notification area) and click Manage Storage. This action will open SkyDrive account home page in your default web browser.

Step 3: Enter your Windows Live ID and password to login. You should see storage plans and a free upgrade offer. Simply click on Free upgrade to upgrade your storage space from 7 GB 25 GB. Good luck!

[via intowindows]

WIndows 8 Server Preview

Microsoft has released a public beta of Windows Server 8. You can get a free copy from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/v8-default.aspx

It can't run in most virtual environments, so if you are going to try it out...you will probably need a physical machine.

The first thing I noticed - There is no start menu:



While digging around I found this point very frustrating. I kept clicking that empty space on the far left of the task bar. I can bet if they leave it this way, there will be third party solutions to bring it back :)

Because the start menu is missing, everything is accomplished through the server manager. This new interface is quite powerful. How many times have you jumped on a server and need to stop and start a particular service right away?

You can easily drill down to a service just by typing its name:



As you can see, I was testing our Remote Control - and thankfully it works perfect under this beta of Windows 8.

There are other dashboard controls just like this for events, performance, rolls and features, and even a best practices analyzer.

All the tools you would use in day to day administration are conveniently located on the tools menu of the server manager:



They are making changes to explorer too. Commonly accessed items are available right from the folder view:



Accessing the properties of a folder can now be done in one click:



When I first opened task manager I was shocked:



I thought "That's it?" What are they doing?!?

But I was pleasantly surprised when I clicked the "More Details" button:



On another tab, they have beautiful performance graphs:



The users tab is great, it shows performance, memory usage by user:



It would really help when you are trying to figure out who is hogging all the resources on the Terminal Server :)

I can imagine a lot will change before the final release, but it is worth checking out to see where Microsoft is headed with the next version of Windows.

Steve Wiseman

Advanced Uninstaller PRO Is Free Now

Advanced Uninstaller PRO Is Free Now Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:17 AM PDT Have you unknowingly installed a browser toolbar such as Babylon or Ask along with a free software? Are you looking for a professional tool to completely uninstall browser toolbars and other software from your PC? If your answer is yes, then Advanced Uninstaller PRO is the right software for you.   Advanced Uninstaller PRO is [...]

4 Handy Android Apps To Save Information For Later Reading

Everyday we are bombarded with a bunch of information. While a lot of the information will not hold your interest, there are things you may see on your web you really want to read but don't have the time at that moment.

On your Android devices, one of the most popular services to get your daily fix for information is Google Reader. While there are some good options to share an interesting article, there isn't much in the way of organizing what's saved. Instapaper is another super popular application for saving a URL for later reading, but alas there is no official Android application yet. So what should you do? Here are some Android applications that you can use to save articles for later reading. Most of the applications will work with Google Reader or Instapaper. 1. Read Later for Instapaper Read Later is an Instapaper app that is really basic and to the point. When you are browsing the web or Google Reader on your Android device, and you see an article you'd like to save for later, Read Later for Instapaper is one of your options to share. There is not an option to see the articles you've saved. Think of this application as a bookmarklet for your Android. 2. InstFetch If you need something where you can save and access the URLs you save to Instapaper, InstaFetch will be more of what you are looking for. With addition of saving the URL, you can read the article and like it, archive it. If you use the pro version, you can even send it to Evernote. 3. PaperSpan PaperSpan is it's own service and not an application used to save information on another web-app. What sets PaperSpan apart from most of the other applications is the option to create an offline version of the URL. For people on a limited data plan or WiFi only devices, you can see the benefit of this feature. 4. Power Note Power Note is the official Diigo application for Android. While Diigo is primarily a bookmarking site, part of what Diigo offers is a read later option when you are saving a URL. In the Android app, you have a whole dedicated column for these URLs. Another cool feature Power Note gives you is the option to upload other notes. You can store images, snapshots, text notes and use your voice to compose text notes. Diigo seems like they are trying to steal some of Evernote's thunder with these additions in their mobile app if you ask me. Concusion No matter if you already use a web-based service to save your URLs for later reading or you are just starting out, there is something here to fit your needs. Personally I use Diigo for bookmarking and saving URLs to read later. You may prefer another service based on what your needs are. How do you remember that cool website or article you spotted on your Android that you want to read later? intro image [via Make tech Easier]

Best Five Free Wake on Lan Android Apps with Bonus iOS App and BlackBerry Playbook App

Wake on Lan aka WOL is the network standard which defines how you can take advantage of Ethernet networking to wake up/ boot up your computer with just simple network message known as magic packet. The feature is extremely useful for network administrator and for those who want their home or Office PC to be accessible whenever and wherever they are.

In wake on lan, significant amount of power can be saved as you do not need the remote machine to be switched on state instead it can be kept in standby mode waiting for magic packet. Since this technology is implemented right into motherboard BIOS, it is very easy to setup Wake on Lan as you only need to make changes in your BIOS setting.

Also since all the major operating system supports such Mac OS X, Windows and Linux supports wake On Lan feature you can take advantage of this piece of technology on any machine.  On Mac OS, you can turn on WOL from System Preferences -> Energy Saver panel and in that under Options tab.

On Windows, Wake on Lan Option is available under Power management options of your Lan card in Device Manager.

With the flood of smartphones in the market, we are sure many geeks would be expecting to use their smartphones to wake up their Computers over Lan or Wifi, and that's what inspired us to create a list of apps which lets you wake up your computer on your Android smartphone. So check out  below list of free wake on lan Android apps.

Five Free Best Wake On Lan Android Apps

1. Fing – Network Tools

This app tops our chart of best free Wake on Lan apps for Android, rated 4.8 stars on Google Play, Fing is not just Wake On Lan app, but extremely powerful and loaded with many useful network tools. It just surprises us how developer manages to keep this Android app free, we are not defending paid app market but even if Fing is priced at $1 or $2 it will be worth the purchase.

Fing offers several useful network tools such as Network discovery, TCP port scan, Ability to Ping, Traceroute and DNS lookup, Wake on LAN, Connectivity detection and Geolocation.

Another interesting feature is bundled third-party apps for SSH, Telnet, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, SAMBA.

Download Fing Network Tools.

2. Wol Wake on Lan Wan

Second best Wake On Lan android app for specifically designed to send magic packets to wake up computers, unlike all other apps this not only supports Wake on Lan but also Wake on Wan.

 

You can create and store profiles, identify a remote machine with IP address or using the domain name, have customized UDP port with the ability to send single or multiple packets at once and best of all it doesn't show ads.

Download WOL Wake on Lan WAN.

3. Wake on Lan

This Android app is perhaps the simplest and easy to use Wake on Lan app, designed to perform only one task, that is to Wakeup computer over LAN. Offers a simple interface with history of all computers you have wake up over lan using this tool and yes, absolutely no ads.

Download Wake on Lan.

4. Depicus Wake On Lan

Similar to Wake on Lan, this is yet another easy to use designed with one feature in mind, i.e Wake on Lan support.  Depicus supports Wake on Lan or over the internet but the free version is ad supported.

Download Depicus Wake on Lan.

5. AndroNet Tools

Similar to Fling Network Tools, this android app is also power packed with many useful network utilities. The AndroNet Tools is designed for network diagnostics and troubleshooting, here is a list of useful features which comes with AndroNet Tools.

Port Scanner with Malicious Port Scanner, Whois Lookup, Testing network connectivity, HTTP Response Reader, Network Information, Ping Utility, Traceroute (Requires ROOT access), DNS to IP, Wake on LAN.

The one issue with AndroNet Tools is root access requirement to perform traceroute which is not necessary and also only possible if you have rooted android device. If you are only planning to use Wake on Lan feature, then this App will work on non-rooted device too.

Download AndroNet Tools.

Bonus – here are the apps for non-android platforms, if you have Apple iOS device or Blackberry Playbook then check out below Wake on Lan Apps for these platform.

iOS App (Paid)

Wake

Though this is paid app and priced at $0.99, it does comes with the handful of good features of Wake on Lan. This iPhone App is compatible with all 'Wake On Lan' capable devices, Wake even gives you a status indicator to tell you whether each machine is on or off.

1. Wake button sends 'Wake On Lan' magic packet to start up a machine.

2. Works over wifi or cellular data network.

3. Status indicator glows to tell you whether each machine is on or off.

4. Automatically detects your computers for easy setup.

5. Shake'n'wake – shake the device to wake all computers!

Wake is available for iPhone and iPad and requires iOS 3.1.3 or above.

Download Wake on App Store.

Blackberry App

WoL – Wake on LAN

The only app for Blackberry Playbook that helps you to Power ON or OFF your computer even put it in Sleep from anywhere in the world, The apps comes in three different flavors from free lite version to WoL Pro paid app. The free WoL lite version only supports one client and doesn't have any options to change the port.

The app runs BlackBerry PlayBook OS 1.0 and above.

Download WoL- Wake on Lan From BlackBerry Playbook App Store.

Let us know in comments if you are using any other app on your Android smartphone for Wake up computers, PC or other devices.

[via BlogsDNA]

exFAT or FAT64 File System(To Access USBs more than 32GB)

exFAT or FAT64 (To Access USBs more than 32GB)

exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table, also sometimes referred to as FAT64) is a proprietary, patent-pending file system suited especially for USB flash drives. Developed by Microsoft, it is supported in Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.

exFAT can be used where the NTFS file system is not a feasible solution, due to data structure overhead, or where the file size or directory restrictions of previous versions of the FAT file system are unacceptable.

Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (both x86 and x64) users can add support for exFAT by installing an update from Microsoft. An experimental, open source Linux kernel module that supports the reading of exFAT files is currently under development. A FUSE-based full-featured implementation is currently in beta status. A proprietary, read/write solution, licensed and derived from the Microsoft exFAT implementation, is available for Android, Linux and other operating systems from Tuxera. A proprietary, full-featured implementation—XCFiles—is available fromDatalight. A full-featured implementation for embedded devices —Rtfs—is available from EBS Embedded software. Two third party open source drivers are available for native DOS.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard added exFAT support in version 10.6.5 on November 10, 2010. OS X 10.6.5 and later can read, write, and create exFAT partitions.

 

ADVANTAGES

The advantages over previous File Allocation Table (FAT) file system versions include:

§  Scalability to large disk sizes: 64 ZiB theoretical max, 512 TiB recommended max, raised from the 16 TiB limit of FAT32 partitions. Note that the built-in Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 can mount and support FAT32 volumes larger than 32 GB, but cannot create a FAT32 volume larger than 32 GB.

§  Cluster size up to 32 MiB

§  File size limit of 16 EiB (Limited by volume size), raised from close to 4 GiB in FAT32

§  Free space allocation and delete performance improved due to introduction of a free space bitmap

§  Support for access control lists (not supported in Windows Vista SP1)

§  Support for TFAT, a transactional file system standard (optionally WinCE activated function)

§  Provision for OEM-definable parameters to customize the file system for specific device characteristics

§  Support for UTC timestamps (starting with Vista SP2)

§  Timestamp granularity of 10 ms (better than previous FAT versions' 2 s, but worse than NTFS's 100 ns)

 

DISADVANTAGES

The disadvantages compared to previous FAT versions include:

§  Limited or no support outside PC/Mac environment at present — most current consumer electronics, such as televisions and A/V receivers, can only handle previous FAT versions (this may change with the new SDXC cards and Memory Stick XC requiring exFAT (or the use of third party FAT32 formatting tools which can format past the 32 GiB artificial limit and up to 2 TiB, 8 TiB or 16 TiB depending on environment))

§  The standard exFAT format only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. Previous FAT used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.

§  Microsoft has not released the official exFAT file specification, and a license from Microsoft is required in order to make and distribute exFAT implementations

§  Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users must have Service Pack 2 or later and install an update to support exFAT

§  Windows Vista must be Service Pack 1 or later for exFAT support

§  Devices formatted using exFAT cannot be read by any version of Windows prior to Windows XP or by any version of DOS or OS/2 (unless emulated as otherwise).

§  Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GiB.

§  Subdirectory size is limited to 256 MiB. There is no such limit in FAT32 up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 2^28 - 11 = 268,435,445).

§  Support for up to 2,796,202 files per subdirectory only,. There is no such limit in FAT32 up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 2^28 - 11 = 268,435,445).

Note: To Access exFAT in Windows XP required a hot fix, can be downloaded from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704

[via techdoor]