pctoolbox.co.uk

Windows Live Writer is a free desktop application for publishing to blogs and will work with almost any blog provider in the world including Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and more!

It’s a very simple piece of software which enables you to link your blogs to one central point for posting, rather than logging on to each website.

Live Writer has a variety of different tools available for use…from hyperlink, to pictures (single photos/albums), tables, videos, tags and more! Some of which may not normally be available from your software.

Interested in the software? Well download it from the Windows Live Writer site

Google have recently brought out a new tool in which you can sync the items on your Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar with your Google Mail Calendar.  It is a great application which is ideal for anyone who is always on the go!  You can schedule the application to sync the calendars as often as you want.  This means that any changes you make in your Outlook Calendar will be synced to your Google Mail Calendar!  Check out the images below to compare the calendars (click on the image to make it larger)…

It is pretty easy to set up.  There is a great tutorial on the Google Website which is worth ready whilst setting up the program!  For those who knew it the application is very similar to the SBS 2003 Server Setup.

So far we’ve been really impressed!

SyncToy 2.0 is a free software download from Microsoft.  It is a Backup Tool and very very simple to use.  Click to Download SyncToy 2.0.  The download itself is fairly small so doesn’t take long to download on the typical Internet connection.  The installation process is again straightforward and isn’t very time consuming.  The software is extremely user friendly and couldn’t be any simpler to use.  In fact, it’s so simple my Nan who learnt to change a battery 4 years ago would be able to use it!

The key element to the software is pairing folders, e.g., folder A and folder B.  With the folder pairings you can choose one of three processes:

• Sync – Where any changes made in folder A are copied to folder B.  And any changes made in folder B are copied to folder A.
• Echo – Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.
• Contribute – Very similar to Echo.  Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.  However, you cannot delete in either folder.

SyncToy is a great little application which I am very impressed with.  Have you used it before?  What do you think of it?  Any questions?

See Also:
SyncBackSE
Backup Tools – Two Worth Looking At
Cobain Backup 9

SyncBackSE is a backup tool from a company called 2BrightSparks.  The program has free for a 30 day trial and then costs £21.68 if you decide you like it and want to buy.  The download for the 30 day free trial is well worthwhile in my opinion because you get a real feel of what the product is like and a better idea of whether you think its worth purchasing the product or not.

The program is easy and quick to install, however it does become a little confusing when it comes to initially configuring profiles and getting to grips with the tools.  The tutorials, on the product website, are for version 4, which isn’t really much help if you’re using version 5 which is the latest edition.  Despite the tutorials being for version 4, they do give you a rough idea of how to perform basic tasks using the program.

The program allows you to backup, synchronize, mirror and group.  Backup means to copy your files to another area (e.g. an external hard drive, FTP server).  Synchronizing allows you to keep files in one folder the same as the files in another specified folder.  Synchronizing is ideal for transferring files from one machine to another or between a computer and a server.  Mirroring means that files from one area are copied directly to specified another area.  Finally, grouping means that you can perform various backup, synchronizing and mirroring tasks at one time.

Once you’ve got used to it, SyncBackSE is a very good program and well worth considering if you’re looking for a backup tool.  For more information visit their website.

Memeo Share is a new Video and Photo Sharing Tool from Memeo themselves.  It enables you to upload the videos and photos for free to share with friends and family all over the world.  They don’t even need to have a Memeo Account to view them!  It’s simple to use and a good way to share your experiences.  All you need to do it download the program, create a Memeo Account and then you’re ready to start sharing.

It is designed so that people, once signed up, will be able to share and download all your photos.  So if you have close family and friends abroad it is an easy way to share them so they can download them as well!  Saves emailing them all!

When we gave Memeo a try we noticed a few problematic areas.  For example, the general photo/video organisation isn’t that great on some screens, so you have to scroll each time to view the whole image.

We would personally prefer to use Google Picasa because of this but it is still a good tool and worth a look if you’re just interested in sharing!

Yesterday Brandstar launched a free download of an Access Database that has been specifically written to allow people to easily manage their address list. Perfect for anyone wanting to fast track the printing of addressed for their Christmas cards! But it also has the capabilities of managing Newsletters for small firms or charities, including the option to email the newsletter rather than post it!

You don’t even need to own Microsoft Access to use this tool, you can simple download and install the free Runtime environment and the Access database will run!

Well worth checking out: Brandstar Address Book Tool : Standard Edition