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Review: Getting Started With Microsoft Application Virtualization

By Matthew Guay on April 8, 2011 in Books, Reviews

If you’ve used Windows PCs for any length of time, you’re almost guaranteed to have had problems with application incompatibilities and messy uninstalls. Over time, your computer can get increasingly junked up with fragments of programs you’ve uninstalled. Then, if you have multiple computers or, say, use a home computer and a work machine, there’s no way to have all of your programs synced between your computers. You’ll have to install and setup all of your programs on each of your computers individually. Even in 2011, we’re still tied down with ’90′s limitations on our computers.

This problem is only extrapolated in enterprise settings. Managing applications installed on hundreds or thousands of computers can be terribly difficult. Then, keeping each employee’s files and settings on their machine even if they get a new computer, and making sure everything stays cost effective, all together makes for a complex situation. That’s where Microsoft’s Application Virtualization, App-V, comes in. It lets you created virtualized, self-contained copies of programs that can be streamed from the server and run on client machines without being installed. Everything work the same, no matter what computer you’re on. This is what I hope the future of computing looks like, and based on rumors, Windows 8 may include similar technology for standard users, but for now, this can be a reality in the enterprise. Continue Reading →

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OmmWriter Dana for Windows | Writing at its best on a PC

By Matthew Guay on March 15, 2011 in Featured, PC Software, Reviews

Computers are supposed to help us be more productive. That’s how we justify huge investments into computers, office software, desks, and more. Yet all too often we find ourselves frittering time away, checking the latest RSS feeds, social network updates, Google Analytics stats … oh, and someone just popped up on IM to say Hi.

That’s not exactly a productive environment.

OmmWriter is an app that seeks to bring concentration back to computing, or at least to writing on a computer. It’s been a popular app on Macs for the past year, and now it’s finally been released for Windows 7. PC users can now write in one of the few distraction free writing apps available on Windows.

In the tradition of WriteRoom and the many plain text editors on iOS such as iA Writer, OmmWriter offers a full-screen, distraction free environment to help you concentrate on your writing. Unlike these other writing apps, however, OmmWriter also includes calm background wallpapers, soundtracks, and typing sounds to accompany your writing. As its splash-screen says, OmmWriter is best enjoyed with headphones.

For the most part, OmmWriter doesn’t have a traditional program interface. There are some tools on the side, and an iOS style scroll bar on the right. You can change the font, chosing from a serif, sans-serif, script, or monospaced font, as well as choose from 3 font sizes. On the bottom, you’ll be able to save your file in plain text format or open a new document.

The main thing is the rectangle where you can type in text. As you start typing, the rectangle itself will fade away, leaving you only with your text, the background you’ve selected, and the soundtrack keeping you motivated in your headphones. Elegance, meet writing. Move your mouse, and the box and tools reappear, along with a word count on the bottom. Again, simple and easy; all you need to think about is your text.

But wait … wouldn’t the background sounds make it distracting? Actually, I’ve personally always found that I write the best with an instrumental soundtrack playing in the background. OmmWriter’s soundtracks are great background music to write with, and the keyboard sounds help keep you focused on writing. It’s the best possible combination in my opinion, but if you’re not a fan, you can always turn them off or select another sound combination that suites your tastes best on the side options that appear when you move your mouse. And, the included backgrounds range from a paper-like texture to plain white, so you can choose one that works best for your writing style, too.

Of all things, OmmWriter does actually still include a file menu, though you’ll almost never need to use it. If you’d like to reset the interface to the defaults, or export your document as a PDF, just hover over the top right edge of the program and the file menu will appear. Alternately, all standard keyboard shortcuts work as normal; press Ctrl+S to save the file, Ctrl+N to start a new document, etc.

Best of all, OmmWriter is yet another new Mac app that’s now available for Windows, joining the ranks of CloudApp, 1Password, Droplr, Backblaze, and more. It can be frustrating as a PC user to see most of the innovative and creative new apps coming out only on Macs, and is very refreshing to see some coming now to Windows. OmmWriter Dana is available in 2 editions for Windows and Mac: a free version with 3 backgrounds and soundtracks, or a paid version with 8 backgrounds and 7 soundtracks. I’d suggest trying the free version, and if you like it, strongly consider buying the pro version to let the developers know you appreciate their effort. The app starts at $4.11, though you can pay more if you’d like. Once you’ve purchased a pro copy, you’ll need to uninstall your free version and install the new OmmWriter Dana II and activate it with your key.

OmmWriter is a truly impressive and immersive app. Its my new favorite writing app on Windows, and I’m sure many of my upcoming essays, articles, and book chapters will be typed in it. It’s forcing me to concentrate on what I’m writing, and only what I’m writing, and that’s a refreshing experience. The only thing I need now is a way to disable Alt-Tab so I don’t switch away to other programs!

After all, the world won’t end if you miss that next tweet.

Written in OmmWriter Dana II for Windows with background #3, soundtrack #4, and keyboard sound #1.

Download OmmWriter Dana for Windows or Mac OS X

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Get Angry Birds on Your Windows PC

By Matthew Guay on February 22, 2011 in Featured, Techinch

Want to get the most popular mobile game on your PC? Angry Birds has taken the iPhone and Android world by storm, and it was recently released on the new Mac App Store. Windows doesn’t include an App Store by default, so for the most part you have to manually find, purchase, and install new programs you want. That is now changing with Intel’s AppUp Store. The AppUp store is designed to bring new applications to Windows XP and 7 based netbook, but it works fine on normal Windows desktops and laptops as well. Best of all, Angry Birds is now available for $4.99 on the AppUp Store and runs great on any Windows computer.

Angry Birds is now avilable for all Windows Computers directly from Rovio, so you can now get it without the Intel AppUp store. Just go to http://download.angrybirds.com/, and you can download trial and paid versions of all the editions of Angry Birds!

Install the AppUp Store

First, though, you’ll need to install the Intel AppUp application on your PC. Download and install it as normal on your computer. This should only take a few minutes, and once it’s installed, you’ll have quick access to tons of great, new free and premium apps for your Windows PC.

Note: While the AppUp Center works great on both Windows 7 and Windows XP computers, it is not working at all on Windows Vista in our tests. If you try it on Vista and get it to work, please let us know in the comments below!

In the mean time, you’ll need to register for an AppUp account. Head over to the AppUp registration site, and enter your personal and credit card info so you’ll be ready to purchase new apps like Angry Birds.

As soon as the install is finished, the AppUp Center should automatically open. If it doesn’t, you’ll find it in your Start menu or on your desktop. You can now browse the store and see the different games and apps that are included. Apps are organized into categories, with featured apps front and center similar to the way the iOS App Store looks in iTunes. Only difference is, this time, the programs are designed for your PC.

Getting Angry Birds

Ok, enough talk. Let’s get the game everyone wants: Angry Birds. It’s currently a featured app, so you could just click Buy App right from the front page. Alternately, click its link or search for it via the top search bar to see more info. Once you’re sure you want to buy it, click Buy App.

When prompted, sign in with the account you made previously, then confirm that you want to purchase the app. The AppUp Center gives you a 24 hour free trial, so you can return the app within 24 hours if you decide you don’t want it.

Angry Birds will now start downloading, and will automatically install once its downloaded. It still uses a standard Windows Installer, and you may have to click an UAC prompt during the installation, but overall it’s quicker and easier than traditional Windows program installs. It’s not as easy as installing apps from the Mac App Store, but it’s not that bad either. And, if you have multiple PCs, you can install the same app on up to 4 computers with the same account for no additional charge!

Smash Those Pigs!

Once its installed, you can launch the game straight from the AppUp center, or from the Angry Birds link in your Start menu. Seconds later, you’ll be playing the world’s favorite touch screen game … on your PC with a mouse! I’d say it’d be rather fun on an HP Touchsmart or other PC with a touchscreen, though I don’t have a touchscreen PC to try it on. If you’ve got a touchscreen PC, let us know how it works on it!

Angry Birds worked great on my main PC, which is a Windows 7 desktop with an AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor … definitely not a netbook! It also works great on netbooks, of course. The only computer I couldn’t get it to work on was a Vista desktop with an Intel processor; hopefully they’ll support Vista in the near future, but for now, the App Center only runs on Windows 7 and XP.

Angry Birds for PC includes everything you love about Angry Birds, including all of the standard levels. The only problem is, you can’t import your score from your iPhone or Android phone, so you’ll have to go beat all the levels all over again! Or, if you haven’t gotten to experience Angry Birds because you don’t have a modern smartphone, it’ll be all new to you.

Since most PCs don’t have touchscreens, you’ll have to drag the screens with your mouse to pan and see the whole level. Then, just click and drag your bird back, aim, and release your mouse to set your bird sailing through the air to the birds.

Oddly, the only major problem I had with Angry Birds for PC was with taking screenshots. It interferes with almost every screenshot program, so the only way I could get shots is to press Alt-tab and then hover over the Angry Birds icon in my taskbar. Camtasia Studio couldn’t take a video screencast of it, either; it just recorded my desktop with my mouse going back and forth and the Angry Birds sounds in the background. But hey, you don’t usually need to take screenshots while playing a game, so this shouldn’t be a problem!

Returning AppUp Center Apps

Of course, Angry Birds isn’t the only interesting app in the AppUp center, so feel free to check out other apps in the store. There’s plenty of free and for-pay options, and you just might find a fun, new app that you’ve never come across before. Best of all, you can try out any app, even paid ones, for free for 24 hours. If you decide you don’t want the app, just open the AppUp Center and click the My Apps tab on the left. Select Transaction History, then click the Options button on the app you want to return. Click Cancel Purchase before your 24 hour timeframe is up to return it. You’ll be asked to tell why you’re returning the app, and then it will automatically uninstall from your computer. That’s tons easier than most ways of trying out new programs!

Conclusion

It’s exciting as a Windows PC user to see new apps coming out for PCs again. Recently it’s seemed like all the developer focus is on mobile and Mac apps, but Intel’s AppUp Center just might turn things around again. In fact, some developers are finding it easier to get their new apps out for PCs than on Apple’s App Stores. TinyGrab, a great freemium screenshot utility for Macs, Windows, and iOS, has recently found Apple’s restrictions on the App Store too restrictive for their app, while at the same time they’ve found it easy to work with Intel on getting their app on the AppUp Center.

Hopefully Intel will continue to improve the AppUp Center and make it fully supported on computers other than netbooks. And, of course, hopefully Microsoft will make their own App Store for Windows and make it easier to get apps on all modern versions of Windows. For now, though, all the apps I tried work great on Windows 7 and XP. And hey, who would have thought that Angry Birds would finally be available for PCs?

Download Intel AppUp

Angry Birds Info Page on the AppUp Store

The Angry Birds Official Site

New! Download directly from Rovio Without the Intel AppUp Store

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Get an Offline Dictionary on Your PC and iOS Devices for Free with Kindle

By Matthew Guay on January 20, 2011 in Featured, Techinch

Do you find yourself needing to check a dictionary from your PC, iPhone, or iPad? While there are many dictionaries available for both Windows and iOS, many of us just default to looking up definitions online. This works, but when the internet goes down, so does your dictionary. Amazon Kindle is my personal favorite eBook reader on both Windows and iOS, and with the latest versions, it includes a free copy of the New Oxford American Dictionary. Here’s how you can put the dictionary to use so you don’t have to purchase a separate dictionary or stay online to find definitions.

Offline Dictionary in Kindle on iPad and iPhone

When you first run Kindle on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, the New Oxford American Dictionary will automatically download and be added to your Kindle library. You’ll see it right along with all of your other books, and can open it to look up words whenever you need.

Whenever you’re reading a book, you can simply highlight the word to see a quick definition of it in a small popup. Tap the definition to view that page in the dictionary.

Alternately, you can open the dictionary itself to search for words, so no matter what you need to look up, you’ll be able to get the definition in seconds. Best of all, if you’re not certain of a word’s spelling, you can flip though the dictionary like you would a paper dictionary.

And it’s not just on iPad … the Kindle dictionary works just as good on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Now no matter where you are, you won’t need to be without a dictionary.

Another good thing to remember is that many other iOS apps, including iBooks and Pages for iPad include dictionaries themselves. This really makes iOS devices great learning tools!

Using Your Free Dictionary in Kindle for PC

If you don’t have the latest version (Kindle for PC 1.3 as of this post’s publication), Kindle should automatically update. Alternately, head over to Amazon’s Kindle for PC page, download the latest version, and install it over your existing copy. The next time you start reading a book, select a word and you’ll see a small popup letting you know that the New Oxford American Dictionary is downloading. This may take a few minutes, but once it’s done, you’ll have the full dictionary ready to help you understand anything you read better.

Whenever you’re reading a book in Kindle for PC, you can now select a word and instantly see its definition in a small popup. You can then select to Google the word or look it up on Wikipedia, or alternately click Full Definition to see the whole section for that word in the included dictionary.

Oddly enough, the dictionary won’t show up in your Kindle Library in Kindle for PC even though you’ve got the full eBook on your computer. So, if you want to look up any random word, you’ll need a little workaround. Just open any book in your Kindle Library, then select any word at random and click the Full Definition link. Now, to look up any other word, just enter it in the search box on the top left. No matter where you are, you’ve now got a full dictionary offline on your PC for free!

Other Devices

While Kindle apps are available for Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, Android, and Macs, the other apps currently don’t support dictionary lookup. The PC app didn’t either until the most recent 1.3 update, so hopefully Amazon will add Dictionary support to the other apps in the near future.

Conclusion

All of us need to look up words to find their correct spelling and definition from time to time, and sometimes even today it’s not so easy to get online. Kindle makes it easy to find definitions from a Kindle device, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or PC, and best of all, it’s free! I’ve found the Kindle dictionary very handy on my iPod Touch, since I can look up definitions even when I’m offline.

Download Kindle for PC

Download Kindle for iOS (Free, Universal)

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Backup All Your Files Online Automatically with Backblaze

By Matthew Guay on October 26, 2010 in PC Software

Computers are amazing machines. What started out as crude scientific instruments turned into the main way we store most of our memories, important documents, to-dos, and more. For years, people have been telling us we need to keep our computers backed up, but it’s usually something we put on a to-do list and then forget about it. That’s often because it’s difficult to keep your backups up to date, plus it requires you to keep up with DVDs, portable hard drives, or other media.

The good news is, there are some easier ways to backup your computer. There are many popular online backup services today that can automatically backup all your important files to the cloud. No DVDs to mess with, and even if you lost everything, your files would still be ready for you to download and start using again quickly. We’ve been evaluating many online backup solutions, and have found several that work great, are economical, and protect all your most important files without much effort on your part. Today we’re going to look at one of our favorites, Backblaze.

Backup Your Computer With Backblaze

Backblaze is an online backup service that makes it amazingly simple to backup your computer. It finds all the important files, pictures, music, and more on your computer, then encrypts it to protect your privacy and uploads it to their secure servers. Whenever you need to restore your files, they’ll be waiting for you to download and restore them within minutes. Let’s see how it works.

First, download the Backblaze installer from their site, and run the installer on your computer. It’s available for Windows and Mac OS X, so download the correct version for your computer. Then, enter your email address and a password of your choice to create a new account, and click Install Now to get started.

Backblaze will now install and scan your computer for files to backup. This may take a few minutes, but you’ll only need to do it this first time.

Once it’s done, Backblaze will show you how much data it found to backup. Click Ok to finish installing Backblaze and let it get to work protecting your data.

And that’s it! Within seconds, Backblaze will start backing up your files to their secure servers. It’ll backup all files under 9Gb on your computer other than program files, virtual machines, and other files that would be installed by your operating system and programs. All of you data files, documents, music, and more will be automatically backed up, and you don’t need to do anything else. If you’d like, you can open the settings and select specific folders to backup or skip, but for most users, the default settings will work great. Just note that the first backup can take a long time to complete, but you don’t need to worry about it. Just use your computer as you normally would, and it’ll do its backups in the background whenever the computer’s running.

Whenever you open the Backblaze window to check on your backup or change settings, you may see a small tip on the bottom. But for the most part, Backblaze should live quietly in your system tray, happily keeping your files safe as you’re saving memories, meeting, memos, and more on your computer.

Encrypting Your Backup Files

By default, all of your files are encrypted on your computer, uploaded over SSL, and then secured on a protected and encrypted server. The backup key used, however, is accessible by Backblaze, so if you’d like an extra layer of security, you can add your own private encryption key. Simply open the Backblaze preferences, select the Security tab, and click Enter your private encryption key.

Here you can add and confirm a second password for your Backblaze account that is not stored on Backblaze’s servers. This encryption key is required to access your data, and you’re the only one who knows it, so make sure to remember it. If for some reason you can’t remember the key, your backup data will be lost as even Backblaze can’t access it.

Now your files are as secure as the can possibly be. Just make sure to never lose the encryption key you set, as otherwise you won’t be able to access your backups in the future.

Getting Your Files Back

If disaster strikes and you’ve lost all your files, or if you just accidently deleted the PowerPoint you were supposed to present today, Backblaze is ready to help you get your content back. Just head over to the Backblaze account page on their site, and login with your account info.

Alternately, open the Backblaze app and click and click Restore Options, then click Sign in in the popup window that opens.

Here, you can select to download a zip file of your backed up files for free, or order a DVD or USB hard drive with your full backup for a fee. Select the option that’ll work best for you.

Underneath this, you’ll see a file browser to let you select your files to restore. If you added an encryption key, enter it first to unlock your files.

You can now browse through your files and folders online, just like they appeared on your computer. Select any files, folders, or even the data from whole drives you want to download.

If you happened to make a change to a file, and want to download the older version, you can easily do that too. Click the Files backed up till menu, and select the time you want to view. Then select your files from that time snapshot.

Once you’re finished selecting the files you needed, click Continue with Restore to download your backup files or order a backup disk.

If you selected the download option and chose to download a large amount of files, you may be asked if you’re sure. Do note that it can take a very large time to download a full backup, so you may be better to download data from individual folders and restore them individually.

Once you’ve selected the files you wish to download, Backblaze will generate zip files for you to download. This may take some time, so Backblaze will email you when the files are ready. Just click the link in the email you’ll receive to go get your files.

Now just download the zip, extract your files, restore them to where you want them saved, and get back to work. Easy! Alternately, of course, if you selected to order a DVD or USB drive, you’ll need to wait for them to get to you, and then you’ll be able to quickly restore your computer.

Conclusion

Backblaze takes the guesswork out of backing up your computer, and lets you keep your data secure. It ran great in our tests, and unlike many backup programs, it used very few system resources. It also didn’t slow down our internet usage much even when creating the initial backup, as it automatically throttles its internet use based on current internet speeds and traffic. Most importantly, it made it easy to get our files back, even offering previous versions of files we’d edited.

Backblaze runs on recent versions of Windows and Mac OS X, and costs $5/month or $50/year per computer for full, unlimited backup. If you’d like to give it a try first and see what you think before installing it, feel free to download the free 15 day trial and give it a spin. Let us know how you like Backblaze, or if you have another favorite online backup service.

Download Backblaze and start protecting your data today!

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Discover if Your Computer is Running a 32 or 64 bit Edition of Windows

By Matthew Guay on August 9, 2010 in Quick Tips

64 bit editions of Windows are quickly becoming the standard on new computers as more computers are sold with 3Gb or more of ram. Almost all computers sold nowadays, including netbooks with Intel Atom N45x processors and newer, are 64 bit capable, and most programs work just as good on the 64 bit version of Windows as they do on the 32 bit editions. Many new programs, including Photoshop CS5, Office 2010, AutoCAD 2011, and more are available in 64 bit editions to take full advantage of your hardware. If you’re wondering if your computer is running the 64 bit version of Windows to see which programs to install, here’s how you can tell what your computer is running.

See What Edition of Windows 7 or Vista You’re running

64 bit versions of Windows 7 and Vista are fairly popular, so if you have a newer computer running either of these you have a fair chance of your computer running the 64 bit version. If your computer came with 3Gb ram or more, it most likely came with the 64 bit edition preinstalled; otherwise, you likely have the 32 bit edition.

To find out for sure, open the Start Menu, right-click on Computer, and select Properties.

Fun Fact: Windows Server 2008 R2 is only available in 64 bit, so if your system is running it you’ll know for sure you’re running a 64 bit edition without checking.

This dialog will show what version of Windows you’re running near the top; this computer is running Windows 7 Home Premium as you can see in the green circle. Then, under System on down, you’ll see what processor your computer is running, as well as how much Ram you have. Underneath that you’ll see if you’re using a 32 bit version of Windows beside System type. This computer includes 1Gb of ram and is running a 32 bit edition of Windows as you can see in the red circle.

And here’s what it looks like on a computer running a 64 bit edition:

See if Your Computer Could run a 64 bit Edition

If your computer is running a 32 bit edition of Windows 7 or Vista, you can quickly see if your computer is capable of running a 64 bit edition. To do this, click your Experience Score rating; if you haven’t updated the score in a while, the link may say that the score needs to be refreshed, but it will still work fine for this check.

Click View and print detailed performance and system information to get more info.

Now, under System, you’ll see if your computer 64 bit capable or not. Here we see that this netbook is 64 bit capable!

See if Your Running a 64 bit Version of XP

The 64 bit version of Windows XP was seldom used, as it had to be purchased as a separate version and was not included by default. If you’re still running XP, most likely you’re running the 32 bit version, but you can check to be sure if you’d like.

Fun Fact: XP Mode on Windows 7 uses a 32 bit version of XP even if you’re using it on a 64 bit edition of Windows 7. So if you’re wanting to install a program in XP Mode, you’ll need to use the 32 bit version. If you’re using a program that does have a 64 bit version, you’d likely be better off to run it directly in Windows 7 anyhow.

To check, right-click on My Computer in the start menu and select Properties. This window will show you your system properties, including the version of Windows. If you’re running the 64 bit version of XP, it will say Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

Conclusion

As more programs are designed to take advantage of 64 bit computers, it’ll be increasingly needful to know what edition of Windows you’re using. I’ve been using the 64 bit edition of Windows 7 since the first beta in January 2009, and haven’t had problems with any standard programs in it. Plus, you can always run older, 32 bit programs in XP Mode if you have any that won’t work in the 64 bit edition of Windows 7.

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Students: Get Expression Studio 4, Visual Studio 2010, and Server 2008 R2 for Free

By Matthew Guay on July 13, 2010 in Quick Tips

Want to design standards-compliant websites, beautiful modern Windows applications, or even create beautiful vector icons and graphics? Expression Studio 4 is a nice suite of applications from Microsoft that lets you do all this and more, and it shows that Microsoft has been paying much more attention to design and standards compliance in the last several years. Creative Suite Web may offer similar features and more, but it is still quite expensive even with student discounts. This is why Expression Studio 4 is a great option; thanks to Microsoft’s Dreamspark site, students around the world can get it for free!

If you’re currently a high school or college student in an accredited school, head over to the link below to get started. Click Sign In and enter your Windows Live ID, then select Get Verified if you’ve never used Dreamspark before. You’ll need to enter your school email address and information, and then within a few moments you’ll be able to download Expression Studio for free!

If you’re a designer, Expression Studio may be the only offering on Dreamspark that sparks your interest, but if you’re an IT, engineering, or computer science student there are loads of other programs that might interest you, including the all new Visual Studio 2010 and Server 2008 R2. Checkout the Dreamspark homepage to find more tools that interest you! My personal favorite is Expression Studio, but this sure saved me a lot on Visual Studio when my college required it in my C++ class. And, if you have an extra computer or use virtualization software like VMware Player, getting Server 2008 R2 for free can help you learn system administration and perhaps even create a geeky, tweaked out server for your home or dorm.

Student discounts are one of those little things that make it nice to be a student, so make sure to take advantage of it and learn how to use the apps to help you in school, business, and more!

Get Expression Studio 4 and More for Free from Dreamspark!

Also, don’t forget, if you don’t already have Office 2010 and Windows 7, you can get them at an insane discount from the Microsoft Student Discounts page. Check out our post for more info:

Upgrade to Office 2010 and Windows 7 the Cheap and Easy Way

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Weeks and Weeks of Geek

By Matthew Guay on July 8, 2010 in How-To Geek, Writing

I haven’t added my recent articles to Techinch lately, so here’s a whole load of them. I’m trying to figure out a better way to share links; I would like to do Tumblr-style link posts, and need to see if I can hack that into my theme. Anyhow, for now, here’s everything I’ve written since my last How-to Geek update:

Wow, that was a lot, and covered just about every spectrum of tech . I’m going to try posting daily updates or so, but we’ll have to see. At any rate, enjoy!

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Backup Your Files to Windows Azure With CloudBerry

By Matthew Guay on June 15, 2010 in PC Software, Techinch

Cloud computing has taken the world by storm. From the newly released Microsoft Office Web Apps and the popular Google Apps to collaboration tools such as Dropbox and Backpack from 37signals, more and more of us are using online applications and storing more data in the “cloud” every day. But with our data scattered around between various services, we still keep large amounts of data on our computers. Favorite mp3s, irreplaceable pictures, and critical documents are often left on our computers, venerable to hard drive crashes and theft. Most backup media, including DVDs and external hard drives, are susceptible to the same problems.

Cloud computing offers an ideal solution to this. Cloud computing, boiled down to its essence, is simply using computer resources on servers via the internet. And today there are many tools that can help you take advantage of cloud computing to backup your computer. Microsoft has recently released a new cloud computing platform, Windows Azure, that lets you run applications and store your data on their servers. No matter what happens to your computer, anything you store on Azure will still be accessible from any computer.

Using services like Azure can seem confusing, especially if you’re not a geek. Today, however, anyone can easily use Windows Azure to backup their computers quickly and easily with the brand-new CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure. This simple to use application lets you backup your computer intuitively, just like many other backup programs you may have used. But while most backup programs help you save your files to DVDs or an external drive, CloudBerry for Windows Azure backs up your files to Windows Azure, so you can always access your backups wherever you are. And, best of all, for a limited time, you can use both CloudBerry for Windows Azure and the Windows Azure service for free! Keep reading to see how easy it is to keep your data backed up … in the Windows Azure cloud.

Getting Started

First you’ll need to have a Windows Azure account. If you don’t already have an account, check out our article on how to Setup Your Windows Azure Account. And, remember, until July 31, 2010, you can store up to 500Mb for free.

Now you’re ready to start using CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure. Download it from the link below, and install as usual. CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure is free with registration during the beta period, so if you install it now you’ll get to keep it for free. If you’re getting started with CloudBerry after the beta period is over, you can run the free trial for 14 days and then purchase a full version for $29.99.

Once it’s installed, run the program to get started backing up your computer. During the free beta period, enter your name and email to get a free registration key. Enter the key you receive in an email, and then click Ok.

If you’re getting started with CloudBerry after the free beta period, you can click Request Trial to activate a 14 day trial, or click Buy to purchase a license key. Once you have your key, enter it in the box and click Activate.

Now you’re all set … Welcome to CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure!

Setup an Online Backup

Now you’re ready to start backing up your files online to Windows Azure. Click Setup Backup Plan in the CloudBerry main window.

It’s fairly easy to setup your backup, but we’ll step through the wizard together so you’ll know what to expect.

First choose if you want Advanced or Simple mode. Advanced mode is selected by default, but we chose Simple mode so we can access our files with any Azure Blob tool including ClourBerry’s free Explorer for Azure.

Since this is our first backup to setup, we’ll need to create a new account.

Enter your Azure account information. Notice that your Account name is the same as the first part of your Display name’s address. Now click the Container button, and select Create New Container.

Enter a name for your container, and choose if you want this container to be open for public access. For most backups, you’ll want to choose No public read access, but if you’re backing up files you want to link to on your blog or website, you could choose public access. Click Ok when you’re done, and then click Ok in the previous dialog.

Now, choose the files and/or folders you wish to backup. You can backup whole top-level folders such as your User folder, or you can simply choose the folders and files you want backed up online.

Choose if you want to backup all of the files in the folders, or if you want to not backup certain files such as system and hidden files. You can then choose to compress the files to save space, and choose whether you want to save older versions of changed files. This is a great option to help you save only the most important files and scale the amount of storage used on Azure to the level that works best for you.

Finally, set the schedule you want to use for your backup. You can choose to only run it manually, or set it to automatically run. And, you can even choose to have CloudBerry email you a status report when it runs the backup.

We can now run our backup. In our test, the files uploaded to Azure very quickly, though it still may take quite a while depending on your internet upload speed and the number and size of files you’re backing up.

You can also now activate preset backup plans, such as the very useful My Internet Bookmarks backup plan. Simply select the plan, and click Run backup now. You may have to configure a few settings, but with only a couple clicks we were able to have our Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome bookmarks backed up to our Azure storage.

Note: The Internet Bookmarks backup plan only worked when running CloudBerry in Administrative Mode in Windows 7. This is a bug that is planned to be fixed in an upcoming update.

Once your files are backed up, you can browse them in Azure and restore them quickly via the Backup Storage tab.

Now your Welcome Page will show your backup plans, total space used on Azure, settings, and more. You can also now restore files from your backup directly from the Welcome Page.

And you’ll always be sure to have the latest version of CloudBerry Backup installed, since it will automatically check for updates on startup when you’re online. If a newer version of CloudBerry Backup is available, click Download and install the update. The update installer may be the same as the original installer, but don’t be worried, you backup settings will still be kept the same after it’s installed.

Price

As mentioned before, both Cloudberry for Windows Azure and the Windows Azure service are free for a limited time. And, the great thing is, if you start using Cloudberry backup now, you’ll get to keep using the program for free, even when the free beta period is over. If you didn’t get in on the free beta, Cloudberry Backup is reasonably priced at $29.99 per copy.

Windows Azure additionally is free for up to 500Mb of storage until July 31, 2010. Any data over that amount, and all data after that date, will cost $0.15 per gigabyte per month. Plus, it will cost $0.10 per gigabyte of data transferred to Windows Azure. Still, for most users, this works out to a fairly reasonable amount. Say you want to backup 15Gb of pictures and 5Gb of documents with Windows Azure starting on August 1, 2010, and you upload 1Gb worth of changes per month. Here’s what the backup would cost you between now and the end of the year:

August $5.00 Initial Backup + storage

September $3.10 Storage + backup updates

October $3.10 -

November $3.10 -

December $3.10 -

Total: $17.40

This works out very reasonably, especially when you consider that your files are being backed up redundantly in Azure servers around the world, so you’re certain to be able to recover your files no matter what happens.

Conclusion

CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure is a great tool to help you keep your files backed up online. It worked very good in our tests, and we were very impressed with the upload speeds to the Windows Azure server. Setup is still somewhat confusing right now, partly due to Azure setup, but we hope this will be streamlined in future versions. Additionally, we’d like to see CloudBerry’s S3 and Azure backup programs merged so we could manager backups on both services simultaneously. Still, if you’d like to get started backing up your files on the Azure cloud, there’s no better time to get started than now since you can get started now for free! So give it a try, and let us know how backing up your computer in the Azure cloud works for you!

And, if you’re curious about CloudBerry’s other tools such as Explorer for Azure and Backup for Amazon S3 work, check back soon for reviews of these products as well!

Setup Your Windows Azure Account

By Matthew Guay on June 14, 2010 in Techinch

Are you ready to get started with cloud computing? Whether you’re a developer wanting to tab cloud resources for your application or are simply a home user wanting to backup your files securely online, Windows Azure is a great cloud computing service from Microsoft that can meet your needs no matter how large or small. You can use as little or much storage or computing power as you need, and be certain that your projects and files will always be available worldwide. And although signing up for Azure is slightly difficult, once you have an account it is very easy to add storage and computing services and start using them with your applications.

In this example, we’re signing up for Windows Azure and setting up a Blob storage account for online backup with CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure, but these steps are the same you’d use to signup and use any Windows Azure service.

Getting Started

Head to the Windows Azure website (link below), and click the Sign up now button. Select the account you want. Until July 31, 2010, you can choose the Introductory Special which gives you 500Mb of storage for free. Otherwise, choose the Pay as you Go plan.

Login with your Windows Live ID, and enter your profile information including your name, address and email. You may be asked for business information, but if you’re using Azure for your personal backup just enter your name or perhaps your personal website’s name.

Now, check the box to accept the rate plan and agreement, and click Checkout.

Enter your payment information as normal. Note that you’ll need to enter credit card information even if you’re signing up for the free introductory offer.

Finally, enter Administrator details for your Azure account, and confirm that all of your information is correct.

Once everything entered, you’ll need to wait for your service to be activated. Our account was activated in under an hour, but this may take up to 24 hours. You’ll also receive an email with details about your service and how to login to the various components.

Activate Your Azure Blog Storage

As mentioned above, we setup this Azure account to use for online backup with CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure, so we want to setup a storage service. The steps are similar, however, for activating any of the other Azure services.

Login to your Azure dashboard at https://windows.azure.com/ using your Windows Live ID. Click your account name in the dashboard, and then click the New Service link on the top right.

Click Storage Account to start setting up your account for backup.

Enter a name for your service, and a description if you wish. If you plan to have multiple storage services in your Azure account, make sure to give it a unique name so you can easily identify it.

Now, enter a unique public name for your storage account. Don’t worry; only the files you expressly mark as public will be accessible to others, so in reality if you’re setting up this account for your own backups, you’ll be the only one to see and use this address.

Also, select a region near you where you wish for your files to be stored. Your Azure files will be redundantly stored in multiple server locations, but this will let you choose a server near you for your primary storage so it will be the fastest to access. Finally, click Create when everything’s ready to go.

Azure may take a few moments to create your new service…

…and then you’ll be presented with your account info. You’ll have endpoint addresses to access your storage, and access keys to access it via programs.

And, now when you sign in to your Azure account, you’ll see your service along with links to start new services.

But this is just the beginning … now you can use your online computing and storage at Azure to create great applications, deliver content across the world, and even backup your personal documents, pictures, and more with tools like CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Azure.

Conclusion

Windows Azure is one of the most exciting projects to come from Microsoft recently, as it points to the future of dynamically accessible and allocable computing resources in the cloud. Although it may not seem as interesting as Office 2010, Windows 7, or the upcoming Windows Phone 7, expect to see Azure and related services increasingly used to deliver services and applications across the web. And you can harness this power today, and even get started for free until July 31, 2010.

Links

Signup for Windows Azure

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