Use your BlackBerry as a modem
August 29, 2009
A tethered modem lets you access the Internet with your laptop computer anywhere there’s cellular data coverage. Forget about lengthy Wi-Fi hotspot login processes and usage fees.
If you have a BlackBerry 7130v, Pearl, Curve or 8800 series device it can be employed as a tethered modem – though charges for data may vary, so check that before you proceed.
1. Download and install RIM BlackBerry Desktop Software
The first step to connecting your Windows notebook or desktop computer to the Internet using your BlackBerry smartphone’s data connection: download the BlackBerry Desktop Software from RIM’s website or the CD that came with your device. You’ll need software version 4.1 or higher to use your BlackBerry as a tethered modem.
This software ensures that you’ve got the appropriate drivers to enable your BlackBerry to use your computer’s USB and virtual COM ports to upload and download Internet data via dial-up connection.
If you find that you’re already running an earlier version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager that doesn’t support tethering, simply download the updated software from RIM. You may to need repair the software after upgrading from v4.0 to v4.1 if the necessary USB and virtual COM ports can’t be found. To do so, simply re-install and select the Repair option.
2. Create Web Access Point Name (APN)
Open up your Windows Start Menu and find your Control Panel, within your Settings. Open up your Phone and Modem Options, and specify your local area code, carrier code (if necessary) and numbers that you may need to dial to access outside lines. Then choose whether or not your use a touch tone or pulse telephone connection and hit OK.
From there, select the Modems tab, highlight Standard Modems and click the Properties tab beneath the option. Once the Properties window opens, click on the Advanced tab at the top of the box and in the Extra Initialization Commands field type:
+cgdcont=1,”IP”,” Your Internet APN”
(Note: If you don’t know your Internet Access Point Name (APN), you can contact your wireless carrier’s customer support representatives. Or you can try to find your APN by clicking the Options icon on your BlackBerry Applications screen, then Advanced Options, and TCP. If the Internet APN name has been saved within the device, it will be listed in this menu. A good old Google search never hurts, either.)
Click OK once you’ve filled in the Extra Initialization Commands field and hit OK again when the Phone and Modem Options tab reappears.
3. Setup Dial-Up Networking Connection (process depends on which Windows OS you use)
Windows XP users: Open up your Windows Start menu, mouse over the Connect To option and then click Show All Connections. In the Network Tasks box in the right-hand margin, click Create a New Connection to launch the New Connection Wizard. From there, click Next, choose the Connect to the Internet option and hit Next again. Pick Setup My Connection Manually and hit Next again. Select Connect Using a Dialup Modem, hit Next. Select the Standard Modem option on the Select a Device screen, hit Next again. Within the ISP Name box, type a name for your connection (Carrier name, for example) and once again click Next. In the Phone Number field type *99#, and then select whether the connection is for you alone or for others, as well.
You’ll then be prompted for the User Name and Password provided by your wireless carrier upon signing up for the tethered modem service. (If you don’t know your User Name or Password, contact your service provider. Again, performing a Google search might help, as well) After you’ve filled in the appropriate information, click Finish to close the window and open the Connect window. (Some default User Names and Passwords can also be found online.)
When you’ve successfully created a new connection and the Connect window appears, hit the Properties tab at the bottom and ensure that the Standard Modem box is checked and highlighted. Then choose Configure. Check the Enable Hardware Flow Control box, make sure none of the other boxes are checked and then hit OK. When you return to your connection Properties box, hit OK again.
Windows Vista and Windows 2000 users: See additional information on how to configure connections for Windows Vista and Windows 2000 on RIM’s site.
4. Connect your laptop/desktop to the Internet via BlackBerry
Attach your BlackBerry smartphone to your computer via the USB sync cable that came with your device (or a comparable cable) and launch the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. Open your Windows Start menu, choose the Connect To option and click the name of your new Network Connection. Enter your User Name and Password if you haven’t saved it, click Dial, and you’re good to go
Tags: modem
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Online backup added to new SanDisk flash drive
August 29, 2009
SanDisk has unveiled a Universal Serial Bus flash drive that automatically copies files to an online backup service, when plugged into any PC with an Internet connection.
The new Cruzer Titanium Plus flash drive is priced at $59.99 with 4GB of memory. It will be available in March, said the company. The online backup capability is priced at $29.99 per year. The first six months of the service are offered without charge, said a SanDisk spokesman.
The new flash-memory product replaces SanDisk’s older Cruzer Titanium line, according to SanDisk officials.
The files will be copied to BeInSync’s online backup service under an 
arrangement with SanDisk. The backup service will store up to 4GB for each product, effectively mirroring the capacity of the USB drive, said Motti Vaknin, CEO of the service provider. BeInSync employs Amazon.com’s hosted Simple Storage Service (S3) infrastructure to store all collected online data, Vaknin said.
The backup service currently supports PCs running Microsoft Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP and Windows Vista. SanDisk has no plans to provide online backup support to Macintosh- and Linux-based systems, the SanDisk spokesman said.
The BeInSync service will automatically store copies of documents, photos, digital music and videos. During the backup process, a small icon will appear in the system tray showing the progress of the effort, the spokesman noted.
Any new or changed files copied to the USB flash drive while a PC is offline will be backed up during the next connection. Any files deleted from the flash memory product will be kept online for approximately 30 days – as long as the amount of files backed up from the device and deleted files do not exceed available capacity online.
The spokesman said that SanDisk has no immediate plans to extend the online backup service to its other USB flash-drive products.
Tags: SanDisk flash drive
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Plan how to Backup your system
August 27, 2009
Having evaluated your files and needs, you can better decide on a backup strategy, and on which combination of technologies makes sense for you. You’ll likely settle on a strategy that encompasses various devices and services, selected from among USB flash drives, external hard drives, network-attached storage, and online backup.
Many hardware devices now include a backup utility as a matter of course; but whether you’ll find that backup utility (be it a separate application or one that’s integrated with the drive) useful will depend in part on the backup approach you’ve chosen. Do you want to back up all of your files? Or are you aiming to do larger, more-current sets while leaving the file archive to reside on a NAS or on a dedicated 1TB hard drive attached to your system?
Various software programs, including traditional backup programs such as 
Rebit Disk Drive Backup is even simpler to use. Just plug in the drive, give the built-in software permission to back up, and off it goes, continually protecting you in the background. By the end of January, the drive’s software will get an update that supports managing backups for up to six PCs to a single drive (a good setup for people backing up smaller sets of data, but not for users who have multiple PCs packed with multimedia collections). The company also now offers its easy-to-use software on CD, for use with any external hard drive.
Memeo’s Autobackup software and NTI’s Shadow are competing stand-alone applications that you can buy for real-time file backup; they can require more intervention on your part, however, than either Clickfree (which is not real-time backup) or Rebit (which is real-time, much like the Apple Time Capsule for Mac OS computers).
USB flash drives are ubiquitous, but nowadays 4GB is a baseline
capacity, not the high end. And larger capacities, 16GB or 32GB and
greater, are becoming more commonplace.
The benefits to
using a flash drive can be multifold. You can store your files, perhaps
both your critical documents and your multimedia files, on a drive the
size of your index finger and you can keep your data close to you, in
your pocket or on a keychain. Many drives offer software encryption and
password protection; still more include a file-synchronization utility.
The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus goes one step further by letting you sync the drive with Web-based storage.
SanDisk is going all out, however, with its newest offering,
the SanDisk UltraBackup USB Flash Drive. The drive is expected in
April, in capacities of 8GB to 64GB. It has a retractable USB connector
that slides inside, so you needn’t worry about caps (or cables, as you
would with an external hard drive). The integrated software requires no
installation; instead, it just asks you for the file types you want to
back up, and it initiates a backup when you plug the drive in; a button
on the unit lets you launch a backup, too.
Tags: Backup your system
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Free trial of any Windows 7 version
August 27, 2009
A Windows 7 installation disk can be tweaked to install any version of the operating system, according to a popular newsletter revealed.
By deleting one small text file from a Windows installation DVD, users can choose to install any of five different editions, giving users a “try-before-buy” opportunity before upgrading to a more expensive edition, said Woody Leonard, a contributing editor to the Windows Secrets newsletter.
Leonard published step-by-step instructions that walked users through the process on Windows 7 RTM, or release to manufacturing, the final build of the operating system that Microsoft has already shipped to computer makers and distributed to IT professionals and developers.
The procedure hinges on deleting the “EI.cfg” file on the installation media, said Leonard. According to Microsoft documentation, “EI.cfg” is a Windows Setup-specific configuration file used to determine what edition and licence will be used during installation. Earlier versions of Windows used a file called “PID.txt” for the same purpose.
“If you have a physical Windows 7 installation DVD … [you can] use either gBurner or ISO Recorder to rip the DVD into an .iso file,” said Leonard, “then follow the instructions above to delete the EI.cfg file and burn a new DVD.”
Leonard recommended a pair of CD/DVD tools, including gBurner System’s gBurner and ISO Recorder 3.1, for transforming the installation DVD into an .iso file. Once they have an .iso in hand, users can then delete the “EI.cfg” file and then burn the .iso file to a new, blank DVD for installation.
Although the process is elaborate, and probably only for the technically astute, Windows Secrets editor Brian Livingston said it was really the only way for users to try different versions of Windows 7 before they plunk down their money.
I think this would be of great interest to corporate IT administrators,” said Livingston. “They will be able to put [Windows 7] Professional on one machine, and Home Premium on another to test each out before deciding which to buy for what group of employees.”
The procedure also offers a way to try out a more expensive edition of Windows 7 before paying for an Anytime Upgrade, the in-place updates that let users bump up to a higher version. Microsoft sells an Anytime Upgrade from Windows 7 Home Premium to Professional for $90(£54), but doesn’t provide any trial or grace period; users must pony up the money to obtain the key that unlocks the Professional-only bits within Windows 7.
Leonard’s try-before-buying stratagem isn’t original; other users posted instructions on how to delete the “EI.cfg” file to bring up a Windows 7 installation edition choice screen within weeks of the launch of the OS’s public beta last spring.
He was, however, one of the first to confirm that the tactic still works on the final build of Windows 7 that will go on sale 22 October.
Tags: Windows 7
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