Sync RoboForm Data using Live Mesh

I have a paid version of Roboform and I wanted to sync my data between my home and work PCs. I was able to accomplish this (fairly) easily using Live Mesh. I’d have to imagine this would work equally well for Keepass Password Safe (which is free for those of you who don’t want to purchase RoboForm).

Live Mesh is Microsoft’s, ummmm… well that’s tough. I would’ve called it a cloud computing platform but that may end up being something else. For now Mesh gives you a cloud desktop, remote access to devices and folder sync. Eventually I believe they will have applications that run on the cloud desktop and your various devices. Sign up for Mesh at http://mesh.com.

I already have a Live Mesh folder that syncs between my home PC and work PC. Creating a Mesh folder is easy. Sign up and install Live Mesh. Then create a folder or use an existing one, right click on the folder, and click Add Folder to Live Mesh. The sync options can be setup here as well.

Make sure the Live Mesh folder you want to use does not reside on your Desktop and the synced folder on the other PC is also not on the desktop. See the problems at the end of this post.

At home, I pointed my home Roboform to save all my data in the Live Mesh folder that is shared between my home and work PCs. This can be easily done in RoboForm’s options under User Data by clicking on Set Folder….

At this point Live Mesh will sync that data to my work computer. So now I needed to setup RoboForm at work.

At work I installed RoboForm, activated it, and then pointed RoboForm to the same location in that Live Mesh folder. So I opened RoboForm’s options, highlighted User Data, clicked on Set Folder…., and browsed to …\%LiveMeshFolder%\My RoboForm Data\Default Profile\.

TaDa, all my data, passcards and such appeared. If a change is made on either side you will have to wait for Live Mesh to sync the change before it will appear. Also if you’ve had the PC up for a while and thus RoboForm on for an extended period then you will need to Refresh RoboForm to see new data. That’s done in RoboForm under Profiles.

I did have some problems however. Live Mesh by default will sync to your Desktop. For some reason RoboForm balks at using a Live Mesh folder on your Desktop to save data to (see error below). So I had to make sure the folder on my home PC wasn’t in my desktop (it is in my Documents folder) and that the folder synced to a location other than my desktop on my work PC (I just synced it to the c:\).

Links:

• https://www.mesh.com/
• http://keepass.info/
• http://www.roboform.com/

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I’m liking Gmail Tasks

So far I like the addition of Tasks to Gmail. The feature I like the best is adding an email to my tasks list. This is great for actionable items that come in via email. I use to put a star by emails that I need to do something about. Now I can add them to tasks and put a due date on them.

This morning when I got my Qwest bill notification I added it to my tasks. That put an entry in my tasks with the subject line of the email, “Your Qwest bill is now available online,” as the subject of the tasks and it also has a link to the actual email in the tasks window. I added a due date to it and now I can archive that email getting it out of my inbox.

Now for a few future feature requests:

• I’d like to see tasks with a date on them added to my Google Calendar automatically.
• I’d also like to be able to email a task into Gmail with the subject line as the subject of the task and the body of the email as the notes in the task. Also incorporate a due date in the body of the email. This way I can email my Gmail from work with a task. Maybe use those fancy “+” tags that Gmail accepts like myemailaddress+tasks@gmail.com.

To access this new feature log into your Gmail, go to the labs section and just turn it on.

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The Wipe and Reload

For my own reference as much as anything here is a list of things I do when I have to wipe and reload a client’s PC.

1. Make sure the client understands what it means to reload the Operating System. All their documents will be saved (and possibly their entire profile) but all programs will have to be reinstalled (some customers no longer have disks).
2. • I also make sure they know the advantages such as the PC will run like it did on day one out of the box.
3. I get all the disks they have or anything they want reinstalled (OS or manufacturer install disks, programs, etc).
4. I make a list of all the storage places for stuff that is important to the client.
5. I make a full image backup of the entire hard drive including any malware it may have. Just in case there is something I missed or they didn’t tell me about.
6. • I use DriveXML to create the image.
7. Separate from the hard drive image, I make copies of all the important data they told me about earlier (My Documents, iTunes stuff, pictures, movies, etc).
8. • If I’m not dealing with malware then I’ll use Transwiz (User Profile Transfer Wizard) to transfer the client’s entire Windows profile(s). Although I’ve had problems with Transwiz.
9. I backup all the drivers using DriverBackup! 2. I only use those drivers if I can’t find an up to date drivers online.
10. I take screen shots of all the programs they have installed on their system for future reference. Now I use Belarc Advisor to get a complete snapshot of the entire system.
11. I use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to get all the Microsoft products key codes and save those to a file.
12. Then I reinstall the OS, install any missing drivers, put back their files and programs, and return the machine to them.

Ta Da, generally they have a machine that is running better than it has in years plus any malware is long gone. Of course I can’t save them from themselves if they try to download those free ring tones.

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I’m losing Sandy

I don’t know what I’m going to do without Sandy. She has been the most loyal administrative assistant I’ve every had, but as of Dec 8th 2008 she will be resigning. Nay, dying.

That’s what I get for relying on free web services. I kept begging for Sandy to send me ads or to somehow monetize http://iwantsandy.com. Alas twas not to be. Good bye Sandy I’ve already shed many a tear wondering how I’ll get along without you.

I know there are alternatives, like Remember the Milk, but I live in my email and Sandy was the best at getting me info I needed in my in-box. Luckily there might be some spin offs. Twitter bought the intellectual property behind Sandy and there is an Open Source movement to recreate Sandy over at http://sandysback.blogspot.com/.

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ForensiT’s Transwiz

I just can’t use Transwiz.  I don’t know why the concept is easy enough and I love Profwiz, but Transwiz fails 50% of the time for me.  Some problem with files it tries to transfer.  Oh?  You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?  I should explain.

ForensiT’s Transwiz is suppose to compress a user’s profile so that it can be moved to a new PC.  Transwiz takes the entire Windows profile so everything looks virtually the same for the user on a new PC.  The compressing of the data seems to work fine but when I put it on the new PC Transwiz will error out 50% of the time.  Coping some profiles can take a long time if they have a lot of data and I don’t have time for it to fail 50% of the time.

I have no idea what the problem is.  It could be failing on a particular type of file.  Luckily (ingenuously) the compressed profile is just a ZIP file so I can get the data out but for me its just easier to use a simple .bat file I created and just get the important stuff.

However I can highly recommend Profwiz.  It’s designed to move one profile to a new profile within the same PC.  We used it at the day job to migrate all of the users to a domain.  Worked great.

http://www.forensit.com

Technorati Tags: Forensit, profwiz, transfer Windows profile, transwiz

Dial2Do

I may stop using Jott.  Lately I’ve been using Dial2Do and I really like the service.  Jott was/is great.  I was even happy they switched to a premium service and ad based model so they can stay in business.  I used Jott so infrequently it wasn’t too bad to go to jott.com to receive my note.

Dial2Do is a very similar service.  However I believe that Jott is using strictly humans to transcribe messages and Dial2Do uses machine and human transcription.  Which I hope translates into keeping basic features free and a cheaper premium model.

At any rate Dial2Do has integration with lots of other services including one of my favorites Sandy and Twitter.  It will even read my twitter or email messages to me using a computer voice.  Also with Twitter I can say reply while listening to a tweet and record a response.  I can go through my history at dial2do.com and listen to my recordings.  And I can see my actually note in the email Dial2Do sends me.  Sorry Jott, turns out that is more important than I originally thought.

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Yellow Text in Outlook

One of my users had a problem where every time she responded to certain emails her response would be in yellow. I’ve seen this a couple of times in my career and it always has to do with a Outlook Theme. In most cases it’s when using an older version of Outlook like 2000.

Anyway it’s an easy fix. First tell the person sending the mail to stop using Themes. Themes are a vile disgusting part of email that I wish never happened. Ok so they aren’t that bad and in most cases you can’t just go spouting off email etiquette. A simple change in Outlook on the receiver’s side should fix the issue.

In Outlook:

Go to Tools | Options | Mail Format tab | Fonts | select “Use my font when replying to and forwarding messages”.

Alternatively one could pick “Always use my fonts”

That should do it. Instead of using the yellow stationary font Outlook will use whatever fonts the user has set, regardless of what stationary the sender is using.

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Problems opening files in Outlook 2000.

If you are having problems opening files in Outlook make sure to delete the Outlook Secure Temporary Files.  They can be a pain to find however.  The directory that holds them in Outlook 2000 & 2003 is:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK”followed by numbers”

The OLK will be followed by a series of numbers.  The only problem is you might not see the OLK directory and searching for it doesn’t work.  Revealing Hidden files won’t work either.  In that case the only way to get to it is to find out what the exact OLK directory name is and type it in manually.

For instance the one I worked on today was just …\OLK5.  I found it by opening the users email and finding a file they had previously been able to open.  In this case an Excel file.  Once opened I went to File | Save as and took a look at the folder it was being saved to.  Anyone know of an easier way to do that?  See update below.

Outlook 2007 keeps the same files here:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\”some string of characters”

And Vista moves them to:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\

Update: There is an easier way to find out where the Outlook Secure Temp Folder is stored (\OLK*).  Run regedit, click Edit | Find, and search for:  OutlookSecureTempFolder.  The entry in that key will be the path to the OLK* folder.  Just copy it and paste it in Explorer.

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Ordering Microsoft Replacement Disks

This is just a quick note for reference.  Often I have to have client call Microsoft to get replacement disks for a variety of Microsoft software.  From Microsoft’s site:

Also, to obtain a replacement disk, telephone the Microsoft Order Desk at (800) 360-7561, and request a replacement for your damaged disk. If you are outside the United States, contact the Microsoft subsidiary for your area.

Supposedly this costs between $10 - $25 depending on what you need.  Also ownership has to be proven so make sure you register that software.

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Proof that Microsoft works for the Devil.

I always thought that Microsoft might be secretly pursuing the Devil’s agenda.  All those conspiricy nuts are right, and I have the proof.

I was signing up for a Windows Live account and I got this.

Whew I’m glad I caught it before completing the registration.  Who knows what bad things might have befallen me.  Notice how the 666 is carefully inserted into the middle so as not to draw attention?  The middle six being lower then the rest seem very menacing as well.  Surely if they weren’t working for the Devil they would have algorithms to avoid the combination of 3 sixes in a row.

Technorati Tags: 666, bill gates, devil, microsoft