Permissions?!? NO THANKS!

OK tonight I'm going to try and make a few little 'MODs' to my current hard drive setup and I need to blog. So lets combine the two. Just like the 'Twinkies' (AKA the golden creme) I will fill you with goodness while you stay light and fluffy. So lets 'open source' it tonight :)

What the hizzo are permissions? What is a hard drive? Is this Facebook?

- No, this is not Facebook. Sheesh...
- Hard Drive is the main storage device. It is a metal box with spinning discs that store pretty much all of your computer's information magnetically (causing billions of small tiny areas to be 'charged' or 'uncharged' which the computer can then understand as 0s and 1s).

They look like this:


Now onto what permissions are and why I don't want them:
- All of those 0s and 1s are brought together to create the files on your computer. In the old days of computing, you either had a file or you didn't. Now since viruses and computer security have become a major factor (you wouldn't want just anyone to be able to find a file with a social security number for example) files and folders have what are called 'permissions'.
Messages such as "You must be logged into an administrator to perform the requested action", or "You do not have suffiecent permission to... " Blah Blah Blah, will appear often times when you don't have a 'permission' to access, view, edit, delete, etc a file. Without getting into the nitty gritty. Permissions for a file are basically the bouncer for who can do what with a file. Sounds good so far?
The problem I have with permissions is that they can make a directory look empty by not allowing you to view a file. They also often show the total 'size' of directories and what they contain to be zero bytes. So it looks like an empty folder. This happens most often to the 'my documents folder'.
By default, the 'My Documents' folder is such a folder. If a hard drive (referring to the main system drive if there is more than one) is removed from a computer and then placed in another computer, the 'My Documents' and many other folders become hidden and accessible. This can often lead to many important files being accidentally deleted.


The SOLUTION:

Modularization (breaking things down into self contained components.)

Having already taken the steps of making sure that windows and all the programs I run are contained to one hard drive, I have the freedom of removing all access permission of every file on the drive. If anyone were to to access the drive and cause a problem with the files on it, I can pull out my image disk and re-setup the drive back to the state I want it to be in (Disk Imaging and it's benefits will be covered in another blog).

So let's figure out how to do it and in the process update ourselves on the real risks of having a system drive without permissions.

*Note - Since most everyone is using Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Hopefully 7 or then XP) I'm going to refer to Windows 7. It's what I run now. Tough.

1. The main issue with permissions isn't even changing them, as it is the ability to change them and change ALL of them. On an initial install of Windows 7, the main account is an administrator account. Great! We don't have to worry about that. The problem to fix first is that the user account created will not change to, more is it given the status of owner, which leaves many things restricted.
- The first thing needing to be done here is to re-install Windows. This moves the setup of my RAID system drives to replace and old much slower 80GB drive with two, quick little 1TB drives.

Therefore, lets cont this in another post tomorrow!

How I roll.

Aside from seeing the above on my desktop EVERYDAY, I like to think that I roll the same way you all roll. Use of my ghetto, G-homie slang (along with proper grammar and punctuation Mrs. Deadon <-- 2nd grade teacher) is in hopes that with today's new development I will inspire everyone at home to keep up with me while still staying stylish and cool with friends.

INTRODUCING EYEFINITY!

Thanks ATI (graphics card developers)!

I've expanded my mind and brain beyond the simple use of multiple monitors, to use three desktops at once. Fortunately this sexy new development by my favorite technology company AMD (ATI is a branch of theirs) has come at a time where my already purchased monitors are at the price-point of happiness for me to by a 3rd 23" Samsung Monitor which of course is needed to complete this operation.













(A 'displayport' adapter, not pictured, was also needed and was also NOT mentioned on the back of my graphics card box / purchase...*ahem*).

WITHOUT FURTHER ADEU!!!
Yes ladies and germs, that means that my display now covers three of these buxom beauties. Like this:








That quite simply will result in this:




















And then will let me do THIS! (sorry if you can't see this video but it's my first lame / no effort attempt...)




OK so what's your update for us that actually makes sense and is worth our while?!?

FINE:
Go to www.snapfiles.com and download 'Recuva' (version 1.37.488 was the one I downloaded and used, not that it matters...) I used this program to "undelete" files from a SD card. Which as it turns out was completely unnecessary in my case, as you all know, because I leave back up copies of data trailing behind me a mile wide. :))

I recommend this program because it's simple for those who are frantically trying to get back something they lost (and probably don't know the difference between a byte and a bit). At the same time however, it provides high-level detail for users like me. (Oh, and is free!).

So any hollerin ahoo, I didn't done need it ta do dat there buuutah be'in a' principled and all...
I's a figgurin I'd show ya anyhoo.

Summary?
As you may or may not know, when you delete a file from a memory card it's GONE. To avoid this you can change the settings in windows explorer (which I will show you how upon request), or you can keep the generally useful function and keep a copy of this program around. There are thousands of other programs like this, but this one worked in a pinch. So there ya go. I HOPE YOUR HAPPY. GOD.

***By the way, I fully recommend to everyone in passing that whenever you copy files you do the following procedure:

1. Copy the file(s) to the intended destination.
2. Verify the file(s) are of the same size. (A simple/basic integrity of transfer check).
3. If a very important file, open it to make sure the new copy is full functional.
4. Finally, if it's a redundant copy or temporary copy that you won't need later, change the file name to reflect that. (Avoids having multiple copies of the same file eating up your storage space.)

G-Night! [that's ghetto for goodnight :) ]


(.....yeah, I know)

Windows 7 (visually impaired) v. Snow Leopard's blindspot

This is the first post of 'Check with Alex'. OUCH.

The main purpose here is to have a nice central place for all the people I help out. I mean slave as a source for daily life IT support (j/k ya'll). If you don't mind my quirky attitude and my inability to leave a random conversational tangent alone this will hopefully serve as a reference point for things I commonly repeat to everyone. Enjoy!

Now onto today:

I keep coming across random annoyances in computers, operating systems, hardware, software, life, you name it. Usually 90% of my frustrations come from technology that is poorly thought out, implemented, or just plain JUNK.

Today's, and honestly the last weeks worth of frustration, has come from Windows 7. I'm going to list all the cons that come with it so you all buy Macs. I'M KIDDING, if we all went Mac, we'd be broke and jobless with bleached white computers that belie their hardware inside. Everyone, John U Everyone, knows the only reason we have Mac is so that Microsoft can redevelop it's snazzy look and appeal while finding a less drastic name for the stolen product. I'd call the MPAA or the RIAA but they only care about how much I'm stealing from Bono. Hey, on the lighter side, at least they aren't bothering us with a confession?

So for the record, this former Mac 'playa hate'a' now is indifferent to both companies. I will be willing to have a croûton, maybe even a spot of tea with Steve Jobs. Especially since Mac got off it's proprietary rocker and realized that every computer can't actually be Mac by actually allowing it to work with the of the actual world.

***UPDATE to the Stevie/Gates Watch:

104th (caribou coffee invite): Steve Jobs AND Bill Gates STILL haven't returned my phone calls.

Now that you know what a beaten and battle worn soul types before you, here's my beef:

--Why does simple have to mean bigger everything, less information, and forced comliance?!?!?!

Starting with Windows Fisher Price Edition (ref. Windows XP) we got used to pretty colors and round corners. This meant no more torn sleeveless office dress shirts, and no need for pocket protectors. Our desperation for support and compatibility drove us to it, but actually we came out OK.

Obviously feeling alone and unappreciated without millions of complaint calls, Microsoft gives us an all new product: Windows Glass (ref. Vista) complete with bugs to rival a cross-country semi's windshield. Leaps and bounds were actually accomplished however! We could see through things! We were finally able to have a window go full screen without popping a zanax because the security of seeing our desktop was there. Now, while falling short of the future, we at least felt important after proving we could throw down $300-600 for a single piece of software.

After years of polishing and ending Windows XP support for compliance, we now have the triumphant "Windows Appology Edition"!

Yes, thats right the lucky 7 edition, complete with authenticate certificate, forced compliance, double boot times, a shiny look, better information hiding, Mac features to satisfy even Steve Jobs. They even managed to rhyme their 'Gadgets' so the floods of Mac converts won't get confused when looking for 'Widgets'.

Here's my proof of the decadent re-programed crap ideology we are being fed on both fronts (drum roll please?)

This is a sample image of the text size, font, and spacing for 'WordPad' in Windows 7. Notice anything?

Now here we have a XP example. Now I really hope you can tell because I can't make it more obvious without hitting you.

These are the default fonts, text sizes, and spacings. Personally I have good vision and would prefer to not have to constantly adjust the settings every time I used the program. Remember, this is WordPad. A simple fast and lightweight program that now is defaulting to a bulky white padded style taking up valuable space. Yeah yeah yeah, we still have notepad, but the point of WordPad was to allow simple editing like text color and font size to a program like Notepad, without all the busty weight of Word, or even worse, Adobe Acrobat. Great job Microsoft, I feel a little more used.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! BUY WINDOWS 7 NOW AND YOU'LL ALSO GET:

Look at all that lovely white. It's like a freshly fallen yard of snow that we can't even build a snow fort on. I can just hear Microsoft belching out "Bah, ya don't need all that space there m'laddie. Twas gonna put ya down to ole Davey Jones Locker it was!"

Yeah, well Microsoft, I wanted it. I'm sorry, but this is why people pirate from you, or give up your bugged crap forced conversion crap for Linux and Mac. I will not belittle or berate anyone who pirates your OS, nor will I re-consider my plans on the upcoming Linux change over. Sorry bill, but the buck (this studly man buck right here *points to self* and taps wallet) stops here.

Finally for those of you who want a taste of a real man's file manager. Look at windows 98, or heck, even XP looks and works better. You can even go all the way to 3.11 if your brave :)). You won't find the frills of super huge icons and unnecessary features to slow your useage, but hey I always say "Mmmm, just like Grandma used to make."

Here's some more pics:

BAM! I feel better already!

Can someone get me a Genie and grant my wish???!?

Ok, I'll wrap up with this. Windows 7 did do a lot of fixes and it runs pretty smooth. There are work arounds and all of us operating system tweakers will find the nessisary work arounds to make it work the way we want it. As far as functionality goes, it's WAY better than Vista, but *sniffle* It'll never take away the scars....

Alex