A quick MS kludge that deserves mention (and of course has many limitations) is booting Windows boxen to a WINNT.sif file (aka an "answer file").
Pop a floppy in the drive. Open up notepad, and put in something like this. Save your file as "winnt.sif" (w/the quotes...otherwise it will name it winnt.sif.txt), and reboot your computer with both the install *and* bootdisk in the drives. The cd (boots first in BIOS, of course) installs according to the WINNT.SIF instructions on the floppy.
gdisk isn't Linux-based, but it deserves mention anyway for some of the fdisk limitations it gets around:
GDisk provides some capabilities that FDisk does not -- such as on-the-fly formatting -- and provides a safer alternative in situations in which known problems with FDisk can cause data loss and hardware damage.
Performance: GDisk is command-line driven and much quicker than FDisk. It allows you to define standard configurations in a batch file and apply them to multiple computers.
Disk space: GDisk uses disk space better. It is more aggressive in finding free space on the disk for new partitions. In virtually every case it will find space that is ignored by FDisk (this space can vary between 0.5 MB and 16 MB). GDisk reduces slack space (disk wastage). GDisk is more aggressive than the FORMAT utility provided with Windows 95 in attempting to keep cluster sizes small. For some partition sizes, GDisk is able to format partitions with cluster sizes that are half the size that FORMAT would select, resulting in an effective 10-35% increase in drive capacity.
Partition management: GDisk allows you to hide partitions, so you can have more than one Primary DOS partition with different versions of DOS or Windows in each partition. Normally, it is not possible to have more than one DOS or Windows installation on the same computer. The ability to hide partitions allows the computer to boot into any selected bootable partition, ignoring other installations of the same operating system in other partitions.
Avoid known FDisk problems: The FDisk supplied with Windows 95 has a problem that can create overlapping partitions that will almost certainly lead to corruption of existing partitions. The same problem can also result in partitions that extend past the end of the disk, which can cause permanent damage to the drive when the partition is formatted. This is the one situation in which GDisk does not imitate the exact behavior of FDisk, even with the compatibility switch turned on. The FDisk supplied with Windows 95 has a problem in which it is not possible to delete newly created partitions if the provisionally assigned drive letter to the new drive matches a drive letter currently assigned to a CD-ROM device. GDisk allows the partitions to be deleted even if the new drive letter is currently assigned.
Diagnosis: GDisk is useful as a diagnostic tool. It performs extensive integrity verification checks on the partition tables before performing any operations on the drive. GDisk can display the partition information in a raw cylinder/head/sector format. This may be of use to technicians investigating problems with a computer's partition table.
DoD specifications: GDisk.exe conforms to most current US Department of Defense (DoD) specifications.
Activate or deactivate a partition (/ACT and/-ACT)
Hide or unhide a partition (/HIDE and/-HIDE)
Reinitialize the master boot record (/MBR)
Wipe the disk surface (/DISKWIPE)
The batch mode switch,/BATCH, allows GDisk to perform multiple operations with a single command. The operations can be specified interactively at a DOS command-line, or they can be supplied in advance in a text file.
But oddly, this (for whatever friggin' reason) reminded me of a deaf couple I once saw fighting. The guy got really angry and closed his eyes. The lady was SO FURIOUS that he wasn't "listening" to her that she tried to PRY the other guy's eyes open with her fingers! What I wouldn't have given to know what they were talking about!
(Am I a bastard for laughing HARDER b/c I knew that they couldn't hear me?)
In my biased opinion, this article has one major flaw, which is that it seems to totally ignore the role of law libraries - particularly academic law libraries and court libraries. I can only speak for the academic law library where I work. Although we mainly exist to serve our students, faculty and alumni, we never turn anyone from the public away who needs help with legal research. We are trained to help people find what they want or need without crossing over into the area of unauthorized practice of law. At the risk of blowing the profession's own horn too much, I say that the the assistance of a good law librarian - who is armed with a standard collection of printed materials and the resources available on the "free web", including the
Legal Information Institute, West's FindLaw and LexisOne - will usually do a much better job for the pro se patron than free access to LexisNexis or Westlaw. The printed sources aren't all bad. They are very strong with the older materials, which Ms. Barr uses as an example, and they make it more difficult to full into the full-text infoglut trap - where the few pearls are hidden in a tonne of garbage.
Law libraries should do a better job of communicating all this to public libraries. I know that some of the professional associations, including the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries are already doing some work in this area.
None of this is to say that I don't have my issues with LexisNexis or Westlaw - or think that they're perfect, altruistic companies. But now there are more free electronic alternatives (or cheap ones, like VersusLaw) available for legal research. They don't have the all the fancy bells & whistles of Westlaw or Lexis, but they still offer the public access to primary legal materials that would have seemed unthinkable 15 years ago.
I have not done this, but according to this article you can secure your SAM key on XP:
You can encrypt your SAM file with SYSKEY and selecting the option to store the encrypted key on a floppy disk. Keep in mind that the floppy disk will be required during the system boot phase. Storing the encrypted key on the local drive is not as secure, since there are utilities available to manipulate the password hash. Make a backup of the floppy disk and store in a safe, in case your original floppy disk gets damaged.
Equally important to protecting your SAM file, is having an understanding of the services you are running. Make sure that you disable unnecessary services for security reasons and to free up system resources. I've included below some of the services that I would disable by default. Keep a configuration file or maintenance log of the changes made to each host in your peer-to-peer network.
NOTE: Make sure you make a full backup of your system before making changes.
Services to disable:
Application Layer Gateway Service ? if not using Internet Sharing
Automatic Updates ? this can work for you or against you; at some point, someone will hack this process to propagate an attack on your system
Background Intelligent Transfer Service ? used by Windows Update
Error Reporting Service ? self explanatory
Internet Connection Firewall ? unless you are sharing Internet
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing ? enable when you need it
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager ? unless sharing Internet
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager ? enable when you need it
Remote Access Connection Manager ? unless sharing Internet
Routing and Remote Access ? unless sharing Internet
Pros: Super-cool look and feel; perfect laptop for your favorite stuffed animal Useable keyboard Bright clear screen (amazing, actually) Fits easily in shirt or jacket pocket
Cons: Expensive ($700 from Dynamism for English version) Limited software availability Shortish battery life No manual yet, PC setup a mystic adventure
Until it comes down in price, the cons are (in my opinion) a big deal.
My advice is: pick a laptop or pick a PDA. Make sure that either of them does their respective job well. Don't expect your PDA to be a laptop, and don't expect your laptop to be small enough to put in your pocket (yet!).
On a side note, Fujitsu makes a killer laptop! I've seen it in action...perhaps one of the best laptops for its size...
Definitely the one where Homer gets fat in order to collect unemployment.
On a side note, I know that Conan O'Brian wrote several of them (like the monorail one, I think). Does anyone know/have a list of those? And did any other famous people (co)write them also?
I will send it to you. I've done it many, many times...
The important thing to do is NOT install the software on the drive with the information you're trying to recover. Install it on another drive, then boot that fucked drive as a slave. E-mail me and I will hook you up with two very good programs.
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A quick MS kludge that deserves mention (and of course has many limitations) is booting Windows boxen to a WINNT.sif file (aka an "answer file").
Pop a floppy in the drive. Open up notepad, and put in something like this. Save your file as "winnt.sif" (w/the quotes...otherwise it will name it winnt.sif.txt), and reboot your computer with both the install *and* bootdisk in the drives. The cd (boots first in BIOS, of course) installs according to the WINNT.SIF instructions on the floppy.
GDisk provides some capabilities that FDisk does not -- such as on-the-fly formatting -- and provides a safer alternative in situations in which known problems with FDisk can cause data loss and hardware damage.
The switches and batches are awesome:
The batch mode switch,
SAT test...
will the madness NEVER end?
Other animal group names include:
pariament of owls
shrewdness of apes
and
raft of otters.
emotionally bereft
(I had better things to do in 7th grade...like daydream of getting back home to play Nintendo!)
But oddly, this (for whatever friggin' reason) reminded me of a deaf couple I once saw fighting. The guy got really angry and closed his eyes. The lady was SO FURIOUS that he wasn't "listening" to her that she tried to PRY the other guy's eyes open with her fingers! What I wouldn't have given to know what they were talking about!
(Am I a bastard for laughing HARDER b/c I knew that they couldn't hear me?)
People would pay good money to see this guy sit down at a piano and NOT play it!
(Anyone remember his name?)
Their prices aren't bad; you could easily justify them.
(You can read their case studies here)
I deserved that one...
tx
cool...but not $700 cool, in my opinion...
Until it comes down in price, the cons are (in my opinion) a big deal.
My advice is: pick a laptop or pick a PDA. Make sure that either of them does their respective job well. Don't expect your PDA to be a laptop, and don't expect your laptop to be small enough to put in your pocket (yet!).
On a side note, Fujitsu makes a killer laptop! I've seen it in action...perhaps one of the best laptops for its size...
(I just discovered it!)
On a side note, I know that Conan O'Brian wrote several of them (like the monorail one, I think). Does anyone know/have a list of those? And did any other famous people (co)write them also?
I don't find the guts of them very accessible.
Agreed.
No one's going to pay you big bucks for just babysitting shit anymore...
CCIEs are worth something; CCNP by itself ain't worth shit.
Have you reported this to Chilling Effects?
Search their database for the various notices. You're probably not alone. Others can probably give you advice on where to turn...
I'm sure they'll be able to help you...
Could they still get you on that?
New Technologies M-Sweep
Paragon Disk Wiper.
Eagle Disk Wipe.
DTI Data Disk Wipe.
East-Tec Disk Sanitizer.
If you e-mail me scubacuda & iname ) com
I will send it to you. I've done it many, many times...
The important thing to do is NOT install the software on the drive with the information you're trying to recover. Install it on another drive, then boot that fucked drive as a slave. E-mail me and I will hook you up with two very good programs.
I caught that reference...