Open Window Software News Winter 2004/5 A Free E-mail Newsletter From Open Window Software Featuring Tips On Using The WinFlash Suite, HandyCards And ProUpdater Contents: 1) New Year's Resolution #1 From PC Magazine 2) New Freeware Canadian Capitals Flashcards 3) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors 4) Study Tip - Use The Category Feature When Creating Study Decks 5) Version 8.0 Updates - v8.00.08 Just Released --------------------------------------------------- 1) New Year's Resolution #1 From PC Magazine Michael J. Miller, writing in the January issue of PC Magazine, says "Back up. I say this every year, and every year I get e-mails from people who want advice because they lost all their data. I love computers, but I don't completely trust them." Michael's right, of course. It's not a matter of IF your computer will experience a catastrophic drive crash or other data-destroying event - it's only a question of WHEN. With this in mind, we decided to rerun these two articles from earlier newsletters in hopes that our readers will be in a receptive frame of mind at this most "THIS year I'm really going to ....." time of the year :-) To make it even EASIER for you to be protected, we're offering 30% off ProUpdater purchases for all orders placed in January that mention this offer in the comments section of the order form. So don't hesitate - make it a priority to put your backup system in place today! Automatically Backing Up Your Home Network Backing up our data is one of those dirty little chores that we tend to prioritize off of our todo lists until it's too late... Our hard disk crashes and all of our data, including that todo list, suddenly takes a giant step back into the past - to the state of our last restorable backup. Your last one was when? If you're like me, the only way you can get around this aversion is to totally automate the backup process. The good news is that if you have a network with at least two computers on it you can delegate this chore to the Windows Task Scheduler. You'll also need backup software that will run unattended (we suggest our own ProUpdater, of course :-)). http://www.openwindow.com/pages/winupd8r.htm We've long ago decided that backing up EVERYTHING on our computer is an unnecessary waste of storage space. The really irreplaceable stuff is the data you create with your applications. Everything else can be restored by reinstallation - albeit a somewhat time-consuming exercise. It's a GREAT help if you can organize your data files a bit. At Open Window we use a simple structure like the example below: C:\ | |- LarrysData | - Word Files | - Excel Files etc.. You can, of course, create further sub-directories such a Business, Personal, Volunteer, etc. under each application directory. Another approach is to reverse the hierarchy above like this: C:\ | |- LarrysData | - Business | - Personal | - Volunteer etc.. with the applications listed below each category. Either way, this approach places the vast majority of your data in a hierarchical directory structure below a single top directory - LarrysData in the above example. Let's say you have a two-computer network, one belongs to Larry and the other is used by Mary and the kids, Joe and Lucy. To back up both machines we can simply copy the directory LarrysData to the family machine and the directories MarysData, JoesData and LucysData to Larry's machine. Assuming we're running the backups from Larry's machine and that the family machine's hard drive is mapped as drive F:\ on Larry's machine we could do this with four simple entries using ProUpdater's Batch File Mode: DirPair1=c:\LarrysData!f:\LarrysData DirPair2=f:\MarysData!c:\MarysData DirPair3=f:\JoesData!c:\JoesData DirPair4=f:\LucysData!c:\LucysData Now, making sure that we leave both machines on overnight, we can use Windows' Schedule Task function (for Windows 9x use Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Schedule Tasks; for Windows XP use Settings|Control Panel|Scheduled Tasks) to run the backup at, say, 1:00 am every morning. For more detailed instructions on setting up this type of regimen, see ProUpdater's help file. There! You're now protected against data loss from a disk crash on either machine. Note: Leaving your machines on 24x7 uses very little power (assuming you turn off your monitors when you're not using them) and most experts agree that the disks last longer when spinning continuously than when they're being turned on and off every day. Continuous operation allows you to use the Task Scheduler to perform OTHER tasks during the night as well. Virus checking, defragging and checking the disk for errors are three other maintenance tasks that tie up the machine and can be scheduled to automatically run at night. In the paragraphs above we talked about how to set up an automatic backup system for your home network. That system guards against a large majority of the data loss scenarios that you might encounter. What about that tiny minority of cases, though, when your ENTIRE home computing environment is destroyed - either by natural disaster or through vandalism or theft? The only way to recover from this type of event is to have a copy of your data stored in a secure location off-site. While some web-based companies offer services of this type, to use such services you'd need a very high-speed connection to backup any serious amount of data. At Open Window we use a system where we maintain three sets of writeable CD's: the newest at our bank, the next oldest in a fireproof storage box in our home and the oldest in our office desk. While we generally destroy the oldest set when a new set is created, we keep the last set from each year as a permanent record. Depending on the extent of your data and the capacity of your removable media, you may want to backup less data than you do on a daily basis. For instance, on our daily backups we copy our in-progress programs' .exe files, all the previous versions, .zip files we host on our site, etc., since these go to an 80Gb drive that has plenty of spare space. When we do our monthly offsite backups we use a different set of settings for ProUpdater, stored in a separate option (.opt) file, that excludes all data that we can regenerate with simple compilations of our source code archives. We also periodically write a CDR of archival data that will never change and LEAVE this in the safe deposit box. This data is then excluded from the monthly backups. Whatever removable media you decide upon, the key is to set up a routine where you periodically back up your data and move the media to a safe, off-site location. If you don't have a bank safe deposit box, you can arrange to swap backups with a friend - thereby providing the off-site safety net for each other. Since the likelihood of a system-wide disaster is much lower than the risk of a simple disk crash, unintentional format, or other every-day data wipeout, we've settled on once a month for offsite backups. You may be comfortable with a longer interval. Just ask yourself "How many weeks (months) of data would I be comfortable losing permanently?" Some of my friends who only use their computer for e-mail and web surfing are comfortable with starting over totally from scratch if they were to lose their data. Many others, however, have either financial data, digital photos of the family, collections of carefully assembled music files or other fruits of significant effort that they'd be loath to part with. If you're in this latter group, think about setting up that off-site backup routine! --------------------------------------------------- 2) New Freeware Canadian Capitals Flashcards We had a study deck on the US state capitals in our library before we even had a website. It seemed high time that we created a similar deck covering our northern neighbor! This proved to be a quicker task than the US version, since Canada was less aggressive with its geographic knife - only cutting their country into 13 provinces and territories. Our thanks to wikipedia's compilation of Canadian facts at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_provinces for the source materials for this deck! If you haven't yet browsed this phenomenal 'free encyclopedia', give it a look! Because of the included graphics, I've created this file as a 'compiled .flz file' - hence, not editable. If you'd like a copy of this deck that CAN be edited, just drop a note to support@openwindow.com and we'll send you a .zip containing the source files. You can download the file (~1.0 Mb) by clicking on the link below: http://www.openwindow.com/ftp/canada.flz Remember to choose 'Save' rather than 'Open' in the dialog which appears - otherwise your browser will just save a temporary copy to your computer that won't be accessible for future use. --------------------------------------------------- 3) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors Isn't it time to put the final polish on that study deck of yours and make it a solid contribution to the WinFlash Users Group Library? We'll give you a free upgrade to v8.0 of your edition of the program if you'll share! Plus you'll get credit on the library page for your contribution (unless you'd rather remain anonymous). To submit your deck, see the detailed instructions at http://www.openwindow.com/pages/contribute.htm We'll immediately acknowledge receipt of your submission and, after review, will send you another e-mail letting you know if we've accepted it for use in our library. If it's accepted, we'll e-mail you a free upgrade code for v8.0. Already have v8.0? - no worries, we'll flag your entry in our database for a free upgrade to v9.0 when IT'S released this fall. --------------------------------------------------- 4) Study Tip - Use The Category Feature When Creating Study Decks One of the under-utilized features of WinFlash is its support of category information within study decks. A single deck can support up to 100 categories and each category name can be up to 20 characters in length. When beginning a new study deck, take a few minutes to decide on a useful organization for the deck's categories. For instance, if the deck is a growing list of spelling words, you might decide to use the beginning letter of each word as its category. Thus the categories would be the letters A through Z. Since this only requires 26 categories, you could go further and categorize by common parts of speech - Verb, Noun and Other (this would result in 26x3 or 78 categories). In this case a category example would be "Noun-A". When we created the flashcard deck of Canadian provincial and territorial capitals, we used the category to indicate whether the subject of the question was a province or territory. Once you make the extra effort to add category information to your decks you'll be able to take advantage of the filtering available in the Options|Pair Order & Size panel. Using this feature you can study subsets of your deck that include some combination of categories but not the rest. In the first example above you might choose to study just the words beginning with 'Q' if these were difficult for you; in the second you might choose all the nouns. Categories can be used to segment your decks in a number of ways: the book chapter the information is from, the alphabetic organization of the information, the week the information was added, etc. Just keep in mind the limitations of 20 characters for the category name and 100 categories per deck when designing your category system. You'll also find categories useful when creating "Composite Source Files" - i.e. output decks comprised of subsets of one or two different input decks. For instance, if you had French vocabulary in two decks, one from each of two previous years, and they were categorized by parts of speech, you could create a third deck using the nouns from both of the original decks. Experiment with using the category feature when you create your decks and you'll find it useful in a number of ways! --------------------------------------------------- 5) Version 8.0 Updates - v8.00.08 Just Released Since Version 8.0 was shipped on October 12, 2003 there have been eight 'slipstream' releases to fix various bugs that have surfaced since the initial release and to introduce new functionality. If you are experiencing any problems with your WinFlash program, first be sure that you are using the latest version (currently v8.00.08, released 12/16/04). Here are the releases to date and a compilation of the changes that were made in each: The 8.00.08 update to WinFlash Basic, Scholar, and Educator addresses the following issues: 1. A further problem involving the Automatic Multiple Choice feature has been corrected. 2. Code has been added to reset the location of all windows whose position is stored from session to session in the case where the screen size has been changed between sessions and the old position setting(s) would place the window(s) off the edge of the current screen. The 8.00.07 update to WinFlash Basic, Scholar, and Educator addresses the following issue: 1. Under some unusual circumstances the program could hang when using the Automatic Multiple Choice From Standard Pairs feature. Also, in some circumstances, duplicate answers could appear in the choices. Both of these problems have been corrected. The 8.00.06 update to WinFlash Basic, Scholar, and Educator addresses the following issues: 1. Import/export compatibility between WinFlash Educator and HandyCards for PocketPC v5.0 has been greatly enhanced. Bidirectional Leitner mode data is maintained through multiple export/import cycles. 2. The minimum initial Leitner interval has been reduced to 1 day from the previous 4 days. 3. Minor consistency issues continue to be improved - none that caused any operational program problems. The 8.00.05 update to WinFlash Basic, Scholar, and Educator addresses the following issues: 1. Corrected error which caused the pairs in the highest-numbered Leitner Box to be asked EVERY session once the initial waiting period for the pair for that level box had expired. 2. Fixed problem caused by the interaction of auto-generated multiple choice answers with real multiple choice answers of Multiple Choice pairs. 3. Various minor consistency gremlins were fixed - none that caused any operational program problems. The 8.00.04 update to WinFlash Basic, Scholar, and Educator addresses the following issues: 1. Corrected error in Insert/Copy/Delete pair functions that failed to make adjustment for direct-record audio files. This caused the recorded sounds to 'move' to another pair under certain circumstances. 2. Fixed problem with Subject Outline that caused program to hang when files that used Multi-user mode were added to the outline. 3. Added display of direct-record audio files to the Editor|Table View. The 8.00.03 update to WinFlash Scholar and Educator addresses the following issue: 1. Corrected error in Copy Pair function that caused pair statistics data to be incorrectly written to the .FLD file. When running in Leitner Box System Mode this caused a 'Invalid Integer' error when restarting the deck after having closed it. If you have a deck displaying this error, just delete its companion .FLD file and the program will write a 'clean' .FLD file from scratch. The 8.00.02 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issue: 1. Corrected coding error that caused '%' and '<' characters to be incorrectly displayed in Q&A dialogs and the editor. The 8.00.01 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. Fixed bug in Leitner Box System Mode that caused deck to hang if it had been created or modified between the hours of midnight and 1 a.m. Not a good feature for students :-). 2. Corrected omission that failed to generate independent unique identifiers for each pair during the import operation. The unique identifiers are not yet used, but may be needed in future releases. --------------------------------------------------- Need Help? Have A problem? Check out our online listings of the latest releases and the problems that they've solved. For WinFlash programs see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/wfprobs.htm For ProUpdater see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/puprobs.htm If your issue isn't covered there, please send e-mail to support@openwindow.com and we'll do our best to resolve your problem. --------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: Send e-mail to service@openwindow.com with SUBSCRIBE as the Subject. 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