The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Yewell's Jewels Ryan Yewell © |
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This month Ryan Yewell has another mixed bag so there's something here for everybody. |
To start things off, I've found that even in today's world of gigabyte thumb
drives, when taking files on the road with me, every once in a while a file is
just too big to fit onto one device, There have also been times when an email
attachment size limit, or the maximum file size of FAT32 formatted drives
(4 gigabytes), has been a hindrance to whatever task I was toiling away at.
Thanks to GSplit, however, situations like these are no longer an issue.
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GSplit simply lets you split any size file into smaller chunks, allowing you to
avoid the hassles of situations like those mentioned. The interface is simple
,.. select the source file you want to split, choose the folder you want the
split files saved to, and set the size of each chunk (or alternatively have
GSplit automatically use the maximum space of each thumb drive/disk/or
whatever you insert). Once the splitting is done, you can "check the integrity
of pieces" to ensure everything is A-OK. Another great feature is that GSplit creates a self- extracting .exe, so the computer that's re--uniting the file doesn't need to have GSplit installed to put it back together. Download GSplit at www. gdgsoft.com/gsplit . (There's even a portable edition that will run from a flash drive.) No More Chunks Next up is Auslogics Disk Defrag, Now, for those wondering why use a third-party defragmenter when XP/Vista already has one built-in, here's a few points to ponder, On XP, many Auslogics users claim it's faster than Microsoft's version, and that it also has a better in-progress fragmentation map. On Vista, the difference is more apparent. Vista's built-in defragmenter is designed to run in the background, almost unnoticed. It doesn't have an in-progress fragmentation map, and it doesn't give a report once completed. |
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For those wanting to see what is going on while defragmenting, as well as get a detailed report of
results, Auslogics Disk Defrag on Vista is the way to go. Other
useful features include removing temporary files
before defragmenting (to save time), and setting the CPU usage to determine the priority level of the program while
running.
The only thing that irks me a bit about Auslogics Disk Defrag is that
I'm not a fan of having a link (aka sales pitch) to the paid program BoostSpeed
in the report it generates, but since Disk Defrag is free, I can't complain, as
everybody has to pay the bills somehow, eh?
Checkout Auslogics Disk Defrag at
www.auslogics.com/disk-detrag (you'll be
sent to www.download.com to get the
installer, so it's just as easy to search for
it at www.download.com without going to the Auslogics site.)
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Stacks of Wax Lastly is the open-source DJ program. Mixxx. While professional DJ software ranges somewhere between $100 to $300, there are several free alternatives out there. The advantage that Mixxx has over these is that it's open-source, and thus doesn't try to "up- sell" with some kind of Pro version, or some other monetising business model. For those who need a bit of background on what a DJ-ing program actually does, essentially it allows you to act as a disc jockey at any location (usually from a laptop), properly mixing songs together, without dragaing along all those records/CD's, with no need to set up sound boards, turntables, cables and so on, Everything is done on the computer, and the music is output through one of its ports to the sound system. Mixxx is aimed at beginners to semi-professionals. If someone finds themselves starting to book gigs and make money, at that point they'll probably invest in a paid prograin. however. for mose wanting to alp their toes in the DJ-ing world, Mixxx a great place to start. You can download it at www.mixxx.org. Until next time! |
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Reprinted from the May 2009 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
