I have been without internet access all weekend. Been up north Bock Hunting and trying to get my computer operational up there...but it looks like the hard drive needs reformatting. Something isn't right there.
hmmm. having just discovered the joys (and likely the future expense that will rival hour after of roaming charges before i switched to digital one-rate) of having access to aim on my cellphone i now want more! not that i have a laptop yet, but that will come in time. anyone have any suggestions for mobile internet access, that doesn't involve ricochet? thanks to a decision 3 or 4 years ago to go with at&t (the correct decision would have been to go with aerial) i can't get gprs service on my phone, nor can i connect a laptop to the thing and have access. now, were i ambitious, i'd fly to seattle, and have my phone replaced under the replacement plan and get an at&t gsm phone, taking advantage of the digital one-rate, and roaming constantly, probably on the voicestream network.
short of changing carriers which i can't do for 9 months or so, has anyone ever actually done this sort of thing?
it would after all be nice to be able to post the clue directly as its released at the pp next year :)
got decent wireless internet access from a laptop. if i wanted to switch carriers, thx, i wouldn't let that little contract stop me.
of course the cheap and easy thing to do would be to toss a wireless ethernet adapter in there and just go roaming around to see who's left their networks open and tag along on that.
of course the cheap and easy thing to do would be to toss a wireless ethernet adapter in there and just go roaming around to see who's left their networks open and tag along on that.
I thought you already had your laptop set up for wireless. Aren't you a little afraid of wireless networks?
I found where I had seen that sweet deal on the DirecPC (actually DirecWay). It turns out I got two separate offers in the mail, but they are both offers for DirecTV customers (which I am). It says "DirecWay offered through DirecTV"
They both say "save $300".
One specifically says pay $399 instead of $699 for a new DirecWay system, but doesn't say anything specifica about a monthly rate. The phone number to call is 1-866-772-9482 and the web address is http://getDTV.DIRECWAY.com
The other one says the same thing about $699/$399, then also says that the professional installation will be $199. So I guess that puts it back up to $598. It's not totally clear. It then also says "High-Speed Access with Unlimited Hours Only $59.99/mo!" The phone number on that coupon is 1-866-819-0168, and the web address is http://www.buyDTV.DIRECWAY.com
Does anyone know anyone who has used Starband and/or DirecPC/Way and enjoyed it? If I stay on dial-up much longer, I think my patience glands are going to wither up and die.
Lance - I know someone who is using Starband and loves it. It's again an issue of no other broadband available. As long as you have a good view of the southern sky for the dish, you should have a good connection.
I do know that when it was first installed, there were some glitches as the installers were new to the process. Starband was great about not charging until it was everything it was supposed to be.
We are looking into getting that up north as well. When you've no other choices but want something faster than dial-up, I believe it's a good choice.
Basically, they have it so that you can pay $99 and get the dish installed ($219 for the PC/TV dish, which I'd do), and then $99.99/mo for a year. $40 of that is to pay for the hardware, and $59.99 is the actual service.
I'll call Starband tomorrow. I gotta do something soon, and knowing that DirecWay can be up and running for $219 is motivational.
Came home last night and my cable access was down. Called them and they couldn't figure it out. They can't send someone out until tonight. Not a good way to start out. This is two times in a week.
what you want is something that will overwrite every open space on the disc in multiple passes. it is theoretically possible to recover previous data that has been overwritten. that's why really good wipe software (that's just a bad term, isn't it?) overwrites it multiple times. i wish i had a link to a program that does that, but alas, i don't. but, if you're that concerned, you can always use good strong encryption.
If I de-fragment my hard drive, delete the incriminating files (j/k), then de-frag again, the evidence is gone, right?
No, what defragment does is what it says. It defrags files that are written on different parts of the hard drive. What happens is you have one file but it gets written to multiple spaces on your hard drive. The file is not in one physical space on your hard drive. This is usually only a problem if your hard drive is getting full. Hope this makes sense?
Like Ares said, you'll have to wipe/shred the files. Try these links for what you're looking for.
gimme enough time, ian, and i could probably write something that'd do the job for ya. just don't ask for anything too friendly on the user interface :)
no it doesn't bill. it actually hasn't since the days when drives were 20 megs or so in size. doing a full-blown, erase everything on the drive format on a modern multi-gig drive would take literally hours, and on your typical ide disk would render it inoperable. i did one of these on the 18 gig scsi disc i run off of 6 weeks or so ago; it took 2 hours. all a normal format does is verify that the tracks on the disc aren't bad. a quick format doesn't even do that.
if wiping the disc clean is really what you want to do, you have to run the format, and literally take a program which will write random data out to the disc sector by sector, multiple times.
yep. but trust me, as a software engineer, who works very closely with storage, give me 100 hard drives that have been freshly formatted, either by using the format command at a command prompt, or using right-click->format in windows, and i'll give you data back off of 99 of them. depending on how fragmented the disc was, it may be a rather large pain to reassemble that data into whatever was there before, but most of it is recoverable. it just takes a little knowledge about how the file system writes files to the disc.
While I suppose that some "Geek Squad" digihead could get a look at a few files that may be left-over on the un-rewritten sectors of that drive, few as they will be... even an intermediately-talented software person will not be able to get ANY data back, once they re-format. Nada. Zippo.
I am certain that if you re-format your HD, it will erase it,(Or render any data left on it invisible and/or useless) and completely. The proof is in the puddin. Go ahead...reformat yours, right now. Even a partial formatting procedure will require you to re-write most of your programming onto the HD, all over again, erasing everything in the process.
i see what you're trying to say, now, bill. what's getting overwritten is the filesystem metadata when you do the format. and you're right thatis what gets cleared and can't be retrieved. and here, getting a bit technical for a while, is how the rest of the data on the disc can be retrieved. that metadata is always stored at the beginning of the disc on a fat or fat32 formatted disc.
i don't wanna argue the point either, since this particular thread isn't exactly intened for arguing :)
i always love the term interesting as applied to people :) well there was one time when i wasn't pleasant, but that doesn't count because jethro made me believe he had me on his ignore list. not that i apologise for that little comment either :)
now, if we want to get even more technical (this is a technology thread, right? i can do that here) if you're running nt, windows 2000, or xp, and have a disc formatted with ntfs, things get even more interesting after doing a format. it actually just writes out the start of its master file table on the beginning of the disc. it doesn't even verify a track on disc until that track is required to store a file. while fat is a fairly simple file system to take apart, ntfs is quite a work of art on the part of microsoft, in addition to being a well-guarded secret. as folks in the linux world have come to find out, reverse-engineering it is a real pain.
linux. with a custom-built firewall ruleset.
Glad you got your cable modem operating, THX!
I have been without internet access all weekend. Been up north Bock Hunting and trying to get my computer operational up there...but it looks like the hard drive needs reformatting. Something isn't right there.
hmmm. having just discovered the joys (and likely the future expense that will rival hour after of roaming charges before i switched to digital one-rate) of having access to aim on my cellphone i now want more! not that i have a laptop yet, but that will come in time. anyone have any suggestions for mobile internet access, that doesn't involve ricochet? thanks to a decision 3 or 4 years ago to go with at&t (the correct decision would have been to go with aerial) i can't get gprs service on my phone, nor can i connect a laptop to the thing and have access. now, were i ambitious, i'd fly to seattle, and have my phone replaced under the replacement plan and get an at&t gsm phone, taking advantage of the digital one-rate, and roaming constantly, probably on the voicestream network.
short of changing carriers which i can't do for 9 months or so, has anyone ever actually done this sort of thing?
it would after all be nice to be able to post the clue directly as its released at the pp next year :)
short of changing carriers which i can't do for 9 months or so, has anyone ever actually done this sort of thing?
Done what? Switched carriers in the middle of a contract?
got decent wireless internet access from a laptop. if i wanted to switch carriers, thx, i wouldn't let that little contract stop me.
of course the cheap and easy thing to do would be to toss a wireless ethernet adapter in there and just go roaming around to see who's left their networks open and tag along on that.
of course the cheap and easy thing to do would be to toss a wireless ethernet adapter in there and just go roaming around to see who's left their networks open and tag along on that.
I thought you already had your laptop set up for wireless. Aren't you a little afraid of wireless networks?
i don't have a laptop yet. dell just keeps coming out with new models :) i just want to be prepared when i do get one.
i'm not too afraid of wireless networks. i've got one set up at home to share the dsl service around :)
I can get it for 14.95 a month, plus a Qwest fee of 21.95 or 31.95
What is the Qwest fee?
The Qwest fee is for the DSL line. The other fee is just your ISP charges.
killer deals on DirecWay satellite internet
I found where I had seen that sweet deal on the DirecPC (actually DirecWay). It turns out I got two separate offers in the mail, but they are both offers for DirecTV customers (which I am). It says "DirecWay offered through DirecTV"
They both say "save $300".
One specifically says pay $399 instead of $699 for a new DirecWay system, but doesn't say anything specifica about a monthly rate. The phone number to call is 1-866-772-9482 and the web address is http://getDTV.DIRECWAY.com
The other one says the same thing about $699/$399, then also says that the professional installation will be $199. So I guess that puts it back up to $598. It's not totally clear. It then also says "High-Speed Access with Unlimited Hours Only $59.99/mo!" The phone number on that coupon is 1-866-819-0168, and the web address is http://www.buyDTV.DIRECWAY.com
FYI
Does anyone know anyone who has used Starband and/or DirecPC/Way and enjoyed it? If I stay on dial-up much longer, I think my patience glands are going to wither up and die.
I don't know of anyone that's used those services.
Why not DSL or Cable?
Rurality, to put it kindly. It will be years before either of those services are available where I am.
That's too bad. They both sound like cheaper alternatives to what you're looking at.
I looked at DirecPC when I was shopping for a new ISP and it was just too expensive both monthly and to get hooked up.
Yep, but if you live in the middle of nowhere with a peacock and peahen, you takes what you can gets.
You've got a peacock and a peahen?
No, but I know a friendly sysop who does.
Lance?
Lance - I know someone who is using Starband and loves it. It's again an issue of no other broadband available. As long as you have a good view of the southern sky for the dish, you should have a good connection.
I do know that when it was first installed, there were some glitches as the installers were new to the process. Starband was great about not charging until it was everything it was supposed to be.
We are looking into getting that up north as well. When you've no other choices but want something faster than dial-up, I believe it's a good choice.
Lance?
That's what I heard.
Pop-Up Stopper
Ares:
I didn't see you mention this. I had stopped using Pop-Up Stopper because I like to open multiple browsers.
If you have it activated and want to open a new browser, hold the Ctrl button down.
yippee...no more ads
sweet. thanks, ian.
Maybe...
What's it to ya?
The peacock looks pretty fakey.
If I had cable and cable it probably would be a better deal. I don't have cable TV though so.....
Basically, they have it so that you can pay $99 and get the dish installed ($219 for the PC/TV dish, which I'd do), and then $99.99/mo for a year. $40 of that is to pay for the hardware, and $59.99 is the actual service.
I'll call Starband tomorrow. I gotta do something soon, and knowing that DirecWay can be up and running for $219 is motivational.
Came home last night and my cable access was down. Called them and they couldn't figure it out. They can't send someone out until tonight. Not a good way to start out. This is two times in a week.
My understanding is that if you write over it, then it can't be recovered. Does this constitute writing over it?
well......
what you want is something that will overwrite every open space on the disc in multiple passes. it is theoretically possible to recover previous data that has been overwritten. that's why really good wipe software (that's just a bad term, isn't it?) overwrites it multiple times. i wish i had a link to a program that does that, but alas, i don't. but, if you're that concerned, you can always use good strong encryption.
If I de-fragment my hard drive, delete the incriminating files (j/k), then de-frag again, the evidence is gone, right?
No, what defragment does is what it says. It defrags files that are written on different parts of the hard drive. What happens is you have one file but it gets written to multiple spaces on your hard drive. The file is not in one physical space on your hard drive. This is usually only a problem if your hard drive is getting full. Hope this makes sense?
Like Ares said, you'll have to wipe/shred the files. Try these links for what you're looking for.
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1,10150,0-10001-103-0-1-7,00.html?tag=srch&qt=Wiper&cn=&ca=10001
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1,10150,0-10001-103-0-1-7,00.html?tag=srch&qt=shredder&cn=&ca=10001
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1,10150,0-10001-103-0-1-7,00.html?tag=srch&qt=shredder&cn=&ca=10001
I've used "Mutilate File Wiper", "Windows File Shredder", & "Shiva". I found them to be a pain in the butt.
gimme enough time, ian, and i could probably write something that'd do the job for ya. just don't ask for anything too friendly on the user interface :)
Thanks for the info guys.
no it doesn't bill. it actually hasn't since the days when drives were 20 megs or so in size. doing a full-blown, erase everything on the drive format on a modern multi-gig drive would take literally hours, and on your typical ide disk would render it inoperable. i did one of these on the 18 gig scsi disc i run off of 6 weeks or so ago; it took 2 hours. all a normal format does is verify that the tracks on the disc aren't bad. a quick format doesn't even do that.
if wiping the disc clean is really what you want to do, you have to run the format, and literally take a program which will write random data out to the disc sector by sector, multiple times.
I think we are splitting hairs here...
yep. but trust me, as a software engineer, who works very closely with storage, give me 100 hard drives that have been freshly formatted, either by using the format command at a command prompt, or using right-click->format in windows, and i'll give you data back off of 99 of them. depending on how fragmented the disc was, it may be a rather large pain to reassemble that data into whatever was there before, but most of it is recoverable. it just takes a little knowledge about how the file system writes files to the disc.
Sorry Bill Fold but, you can still recover files after reformatting.
You can even recover files from an unbootable machine.
I think I said that...?
You did?
While I suppose that some "Geek Squad" digihead could get a look at a few files that may be left-over on the un-rewritten sectors of that drive, few as they will be... even an intermediately-talented software person will not be able to get ANY data back, once they re-format. Nada. Zippo.
I am certain that if you re-format your HD, it will erase it,(Or render any data left on it invisible and/or useless) and completely. The proof is in the puddin. Go ahead...reformat yours, right now. Even a partial formatting procedure will require you to re-write most of your programming onto the HD, all over again, erasing everything in the process.
i'm telling ya, bill, i could probably get a look at more than just a few files on the disc.
i see what you're trying to say, now, bill. what's getting overwritten is the filesystem metadata when you do the format. and you're right thatis what gets cleared and can't be retrieved. and here, getting a bit technical for a while, is how the rest of the data on the disc can be retrieved. that metadata is always stored at the beginning of the disc on a fat or fat32 formatted disc.
i don't wanna argue the point either, since this particular thread isn't exactly intened for arguing :)
You are always pleasant and interesting.
i always love the term interesting as applied to people :) well there was one time when i wasn't pleasant, but that doesn't count because jethro made me believe he had me on his ignore list. not that i apologise for that little comment either :)
now, if we want to get even more technical (this is a technology thread, right? i can do that here) if you're running nt, windows 2000, or xp, and have a disc formatted with ntfs, things get even more interesting after doing a format. it actually just writes out the start of its master file table on the beginning of the disc. it doesn't even verify a track on disc until that track is required to store a file. while fat is a fairly simple file system to take apart, ntfs is quite a work of art on the part of microsoft, in addition to being a well-guarded secret. as folks in the linux world have come to find out, reverse-engineering it is a real pain.
ok, is this really necessary???
That's gotta be a joke?
nope. the article was posted over on slashdotthis morning. someone actually did this.
i ought to find the link i once had to some guy in new zealand who built a jet-powered beer cooler. the guy literally built his own jet engine.
It was a crappy old machine so who cares if they ruin it.
There was something creepy about it though.
you ready for that jet engine powered beer cooler?
here it is.
That guy's crazy! We need to get him a girlfriend.
:-)
i could feature myself doing something like that though.
when asked why, the simple answer is always "because i can"
when asked why, the simple answer is always "because i can"
Yeah, I can understand that.
actually i was expecting a smart-ass response like "yeah and we need to get you a girlfriend too" :) you kinda disappointed me, jt.