Check Status of Remote PC with SI Ping

Test communication with remote computer and check its online status over the internet with free visual Ping tool for Windows.

 

What did your mom do when you got sick as a kid? Most probably the first thing she did was giving you a thermometer to check your body heat. If you are trying to access a remote computer and are not getting a response, chances are that computer is not functioning properly. In other words, it might be sick. But how would you give a thermometer to that PC?

 

There is a free tool called ping. exe that comes with most versions of Windows. You can use this tool to poke the remote PC and check its response. To use ping. exe, you would typically invoke a command line, which would open a black console window, and type ping. exe followed with IP address of the computer you want to check. Usually you would get a response right in the console window in a matter of seconds. You would judge - or, rather, guess, - the remote computer's health by the cryptic numbers printed as decimal integers. If the remote computer is not available, or if the network is not available, or if some link or a piece of hardware in between you and the remote PC has failed, you'll get nothing. It is up to you to guess what and where have failed.

 

SI Ping designed by Software Institute http: //www. softinstitute. com/, on the other hand, gives clearly legible and well formatted output by providing easy to understand and well explained numbers. It displays all the vital information, such as time to access the remote computer, in milliseconds, and allows you to ping more than one computer by simply selecting their address from a combo box. Thanks to its user-friendly, convenient user interface, SI Ping is much more convenient to use than the Windows ping. exe, being a great free replacement for the old-fashioned console-based tool.

 

Software Institute releases well-designed, simple to use products that help computer users solve one particular problem. Our products are free, and typically perform just one task, such as ping, trace route, or lookup, but do it in a convenient manner. We offer a number of free networking tools from http: //www. softinstitute. com/soft/

Down with Sisyphean toil

Have All Programs In your Start Menu Become Enormously Numerous?

You bought a computer and started turning it into a habitable thing by installing various useful programs for work and entertainment. But then you opened the Start menu one day and all of a sudden became confused:

Where's the program I need in this huge list?

 

Catalog  True Solution For Arranging Information
The first librarians have encountered the same problem: �How to put great amounts of all this information into order? � Catalogs solved this problem. A catalog allows you to focus on a certain category instead of paying attention to all items. It is possible due to the catalog structure based on the fact that all items have been already sorted by categories. This method turned out to be so good that catalogs continue to serve as a source of trustworthy information even centuries later, in the age of search engines, both for people and for search engines.

 

The More, The Worse
One huge list makes you look through a lot of unneeded items when you are looking for something. The longer the list is, the more attention and time your search requires. You can observe this oppressive situation on most users' computers, it is enough just to open the �All Programs� item in the Start menu. If it is not the case with you, it is just a matter of time.

 

What To do?
So how can you solve the problem of your menu being overfilled with various programs? Restrict your needs? No need to do that! The program Start Menu Tuner will easily solve your problem. Use it to create program categories you need and sort your programs by them. You will do it easily and visually. You will spend minimum effort even if you are new to computers.

 

Result  Quick Access To Any Program
What will you get as a result? Now you will not fall into a stupor at a mere sight of a large choice when you open the menu. Your choice is easy and visual: you see a category, open it and look at a brief list of programs that does not require a bloodhound's skills. You have made your everyday life yet more simple and comfortable. It means that the quality of your life has increased and I congratulate you on that!

Another Fine Mess

I was reading an excellent article today titled Identity Theft by Judith Collins at eWeek. com, when it got me to thinking.... I'm in the Anti-Spyware business, and I'm doing a lot of advertising to promote my website, but here I am online and on the phone, giving my personal information to..... who? Strangers basically, Geez!.

 

The majority of identity thefts occur thru contractors employing people in entry-level jobs that have not been properly screened. Not even Hackers, Phishers or Dumpster Divers account for as many! The ideal location for a Identity stealer would be in a out sourced agency that fails to use adequate screening processes.

 

I've read many articles lately that state we need stricter guidelines and procedures to insure we have proper security as consumers. A set of universal rules that would be adhered to by all. To even think of the enormous complexity of this project staggers the mind!

 

So here I am, I want to take a advertisement out at a prestigious magazine that is published in a traditional print paper and online. I may have to deal with people online and on the phone. I give my name, address, phone number, and��my credit card number! EGAD, what am I doing?

 

Then my common sense and education about matters such as these kicks in and I rationalize that these companies would not be in business if they couldn�t keep their customers happy. But, accidents happen.

 

So you see my dilemma. I know computer security and Spyware, and the vulnerabilities and strengths when dealing online. Its just a little new to me to trust, when I know the ramifications to me personally if my Identity were to be used for ill-gotten gain.

 

I know after all these years of being a, OK I admit it, a slightly paranoid online user, that I need to make myself a little vunerable so I can better succeed in my online business.

 

Ive been where the people who contact me asking for help are; a place in their minds of anger, frustration and helplessness.

 

But then as I said earlier, common sense and education about Spyware wins over and I take a deep breath and go on.

 

The California Attorney General has a excellent website for Identity Theft at
http: //caag. state. ca. us/idtheft/

Travel Agency Software

Charles Darwin was one of the most traveled people in history. Can you imagine the commissions his travel agent earned?

 

How many times have you been held up trying to book a flight or hotel because... "our system is down". Today, people have no patience for non-functioning travel agency software. In an age when people can book a flight on a cell phone modem, the most important asset a travel agency offers customers is personal service backed up by excellent travel agency software.

 

Travel Agency System - The Lion Sleeps tonight
Travel Agent system can mean the defense between a happy traveler and angry lion! Travel is a word of mouth business... a happy customer brings more business, an unhappy customer may cost a travel agency dearly. In today's travel jungle, the unhappy customer is the lion a travel agency should most fear. Poor agency travel software may cause unhappy customers to tell their friends and even write damaging reviews on blogs and forums. the travel jungle the travel agencies with easy to use, efficient travel agency software sleep the soundest.

 

Travel Agency Software- Survival of the Fittest

Travel agency software that meets both present and future needs is vital. An agency's products and customers are constantly changing and so must a travel agency's travel agent software. The competition among competition in the travel and tourism field is fierce and so is Travel Agency Software a fiercely competitive field. Travel agencies offering personal as well as on-line reservations earn higher profit margins. Here are broad travel agent software guidelines for travel agency software needs:

Travel agency software - The Origin of Species

Very easy to use
Flexible commission facilities
Multi-lingual
Multi-currency
Full accounting capability
Full Internet integration
Extensive automated system
Total end to end solution
State-of-the-art technology
Proven reliability & stability

If Darwin was alive to day, his agent would have the best travel agency
system money could buy. It's a jungle out there in the travel business, don't underestimate the importance of your travel agency software.

Software It's Us Against Them!

Some people are of the opinion that computer software was designed to help us make the most of our computers, those wonderful tools invented to help us store and access masses of data and to generally make our lives easier. There are some among us, however, who have cottoned on to the truth of the matter, and are quietly, patiently waiting for our time to strike. We are growing in numbers every day, and the subtle swell of our voices can be heard everywhere you go. Who are we? We are the only sensible ones left  we know that computer software was designed to confuse us!

 

So we don't pretend to understand the machinations of the computer even before the software is added, but surely there has to be a simpler way to navigate this all-hallowed tool? It's not that we're lacking in the brain department; we manage to weave our merry way through our daily lives without incurring too many trials and tribulations, we feed and clothe ourselves, and prevent ourselves from smelling bad. Hey, we can even make a piece of toast if we have to  so why can't we use our computers for ten minutes straight without running into some kind of problem of another?

 

Perhaps it's the geeks way of getting their own back on us. We�ve pointed and laughed for years while they've pressed their noses further into their books. Books we could manage, so to keep all the really important information to themselves, they had to invent something really tricky. So they came up with computer software.

 

Haven't you noticed how quickly they can fix any problem you encounter? At the first sign of a software error message, they emerge from the woodwork, click a few things and there you go  back into your document or spreadsheet without a clue how you got out, or got back in. They seem to have written all the software in some strange language that only they can understand, and they probably have weekly meetings, where they go and laugh at how they got one over on us.

 

But we can let them have their day. We have worked out just what they�re up to with this software business and we are compiling evidence against as we speak. At least I think we are. Hey, what's that error message say?

Software Bringing Computers Closer

Computer software is that essential equipment that makes this critical office and home tool available to us  let's face it, there are few of us with the skills and knowledge to know what to do with one without it! Just as a pen is only a shell without the ink to allow us write, so a computer without software is a large and expensive paperweight.

 

And the most important software of all is probably the one we use most often, namely word processing software. We don't have to be professional writers to employ some type of word processing suite on a daily basis; from making shopping lists to composing letters, this is the one type of software we can�t do without.

 

Since the dawn of time, man has been recording his thoughts using some kind of annotation. Though writing itself is not as old as we are  the term prehistory  specifically refers to that time before writing existed, allowing us some kind of access to a written chronicle of events  this creative and expressive form of communication has been around since the time of the ancient Sumerians.

 

Throughout history, man has invented newer and better ways to record his thoughts and communicate them to others using the written word. The important combination of writing tools � what would evolve into pen and paper  became more and more advanced as the years progressed, culminating in the invention of the typewriter. And while this offered a more efficient way of marking down thoughts and observations, even it, these days, seems antiquated in comparison to the computer software that we use today.

 

The use of many features, once novel, of word processing software have become second nature to us now. We cannot consider typing any length without the ability to delete at will, to cut and paste, to make mistakes and move along. And that is perhaps the dichotomous pleasure of word processing software  that we can, at the drop of a hat, save our words or delete them forever.

 

For that is the real gift of computer software. It is the medium between us and our computing tool, helping us make use of technology we do not necessarily understand, and allowing us to express ourselves precisely as we wish.

Protecting Your Data From Digital Dangers

Viruses, spyware, hackers, data loss or theft-these are a few of the digital dangers a computer faces. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to protect hardware and your irreplaceable files. An important first step in data protection involves updating Windows with the newest security patches and ser-vice packs. You can do that by enabling the automatic update feature on Windows XP or manually downloading the patches from http: //windowsupdate. microsoft. com.

Other ways to safeguard Windows XP are described in easy-to-understand language in a new book called "Geeks On Call Windows XP: 5-Minute Fixes" (Wiley, $14. 95 ). The book also offers expert advice and step-by-step explanations of topics ranging from avoiding digital dangers to turbocharging Windows. Here are some additional tips from the book that can help you protect your data.

Backing Up Data

Protect hard drive data by backing it up on recordable or rewritable CDs/DVDs or separate hard drives. You can also use special software to create a "disc image" of your hard drive. If your hard drive ever crashes, you can simply load the disc image onto your computer, and you will be up and running as if nothing ever happened. Popular disc-imaging programs include Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, NTI Backup NOW, and Turbo Backup.

Protecting Important Files

If you don't want to back up your entire hard drive, consider backing up your most important documents (financial information, digital photos, music files, etc. ). Popular programs used for document backups include Nero Burning ROM, Nero Express, NTI CD-Maker, and Roxio Easy Media Creator. Also, be sure to protect all your data by using a password on your Windows account.

Know The Enemy

The most common reasons for data loss include:

• Dead hard drives-Hard drives can give out. It pays to be prepared.

• Viruses-Some digital threats lurking on the Internet can destroy certain files on your computer.

• Power surges-An electrical storm or fluctuation in power lines can cause a sudden burst of electricity that zaps your hard drive.

• Theft-Computers, especially laptops, are big targets for thieves.