[Download Squad] 5 New Entries: Driver Backup! 2 is a free, portable DriverMax alternative

Driver Backup! 2 is a free, portable DriverMax alternative

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

I've been using DriverMax for a while, and it's a great tool - I included it in my 5 applications for a painless Windows reformat. One thing I don't like about it is that it's not portable and that the screens don't display properly on computers running at 800x600 or 640x480.

Driver Backup! 2 is a nice alternative. While it doesn't have DriverMax's extra features (like driver updating), the just-under-1mb application provides fast, simple driver file backups and restorations.

Two other features I enjoy are that it's fully portable and supports command line switches for fully automatic operations. Even better, there's an integrated builder that will help you create your command line easily - as long as you can read a little Italian.

English help files are provided, though, and fully document the available switches. Setting one up manually is easy enough that you don't really need the builder's help anyway.

Both backups and restores are quick and painless, and it had no trouble with my Windows Vista x64 install. It's well worth adding to your USB flash drive.

Driver Backup! 2 is a free, portable DriverMax alternative originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AIM Blast: finally, you can IM multiple buddies at once

Filed under: Web services, Social Software, AOL

AIM Blast is a new AOL Instant Messenger feature that makes me feel old, because I just realized that it's been a decade since I first wondered why there was no way to IM multiple buddies without opening a chatroom. Well, it's finally here, and it works pretty well. You can't make a Blast Group from within AIM, but if you go to blast.aim.com, you can set up and edit a group from there. Blast seems to work with third-party AIM clients, although AOL says that Meebo may have some problems with it.

The Blast Group will then show up on your buddy list, and any IM you send to it will go to everyone in the group. The group acts like a normal AIM account, it just puts people's individual screennames in front of their messages, so you know who's talking. When you invite people (using your group admin page), they'll get a message in AIM asking them to accept or decline. Once they're in, they can IM the group, unless you make it admin-only. That makes your group more like a notification system than a chat, but that may work better for some people.

AIM Blast: finally, you can IM multiple buddies at once originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Backblaze offers truly no-hassle online backups

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Web services, Commercial

Many users have the same problem when it comes to configuring a backup application: they forget to add one important file or folder to the job. Backblaze - a new online backup service - thinks they have a solution to the problem.

Unlike most applications where items to be backed up must be manually added by the user, Backblaze works by automatically excluding the junk it knows you don't really want to back up anyway. Gleb from the Backblaze team explained it like this:

"The reason we took this approach was that most users would get stuck at the "pick what files and folders to backup" step. They either didn't know how to navigate the file system (try finding your PST file), or their files were not organized, or they just didn't have time."
By default it won't back up operating system, application, or temp files, and you can add any other exclusions you like via the settings screen.

Now, if you're like me and confined to 30kbps upload your initial backup is going to take a while - four days in my case. Once it's done, Backblaze keeps things efficiently in synch by performing differential backups. Your data is encrypted prior to uploading, transmitted securely via HTTPS, and users that demand added security can add their own private key.

Continue reading Backblaze offers truly no-hassle online backups

Backblaze offers truly no-hassle online backups originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WordPress 2.7 coming tomorrow

Filed under: Internet, Blogging

It's a bit behind schedule, but WordPress 2.7 is due out tomorrow evening. Automattic, the company behind the popular blogging platform put out the first release candidate version of WordPress 2.7 just a few days ago, but a beta version has been available for the last few months.

WordPress 2.7 represents a huge shift away from earlier versions of WordPress - at least in the administration area. Most of the changes will be visible to bloggers, but not blog readers. But the changes in the admin area are huge. First, the navigation menus have all been moved to the left side of the screen, giving you more room at the top of the page. The submenus are all also collapsible, which allows you to navigate the administration interface without reloading the page as often.

You can also customize the admin area by dragging, dropping, adding, or deleting widgets like the Right Now screen which gives you an overview of your blog stats or the QuickPress widget which lets you create a post using a stripped down WYSIWYG editor right from the start page.

WordPress 2.7 also lets you search for and install plugins without leaving the admin area. And for the first time, an automatic upgrade tool is included in WordPress so you can upgrade to WordPress 2.7.1 or 2.8 or whatever new versions are on the horizon without having to fire up an FTP client.

The upgrade tool also means that if you just can't wait until tomorrow to try out the new version of WordPress you can install the release candidate today and initiate an automatic upgrade tomorrow. For some reason WordPress still does not provide a simple way to backup your database before upgrading though, so you may want to install a third party plugin to backup your data before upgrading just in case something goes wrong.

WordPress 2.7 coming tomorrow originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Greasemonkey script adds Pirate Bay links to Amazon pages

Filed under: P2P, Browsers

If you're looking to either make your Pirate Bay downloading a little more like traditional shopping or a way to avoid spending money at Amazon.com, a new Greasemonkey script is ready to answer the call.

Pirates of the Amazon works by inserting a direct download link below the title of the product you're currently viewing. Of course it works with movies and albums, but it also does an admirable job finding software and books.

The download link points directly to the .torrent file, so you won't even have to view the Pirate Bay page for a particular item. Their crew doesn't mind a bit.

"We love scripts like that. Sharing is good, [and we] don't really care if people end up on our download page or take the torrent itself directly. It's easier for the people to get it directly, but they miss the meta data that is surrounding the torrent file (comments and so on can be helpful)."

This isn't the first script of this kind, obviously. Others exist that perform the same function with IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, and a quick tag search at Userscripts.org for 'torrent" reveals several others.

It's an interesting script, but I'll keep searching NowTorrents for now.

Greasemonkey script adds Pirate Bay links to Amazon pages originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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