The Download Blog

Last February, I described losing half my iPhone contacts after an iTunes sync. Even though I tried the Filadex Web-based contact manager, I don't like the fact that the information is stored unencrypted on Web servers.

More importantly, my iPhone always has my most up-to-date telephone and address contact list, while Gmail knows more about my e-mail correspondents than the iPhone does, and Google Calendar is my primary scheduler. Just to complicate matters, I spend most of my workdays (and some weekends, unfortunately) in Outlook.

I need to export my Google Calendar and Gmail addresses to Outlook and my iPhone, and move my iPhone telephone numbers and physical addresses to Gmail and Outlook. Simple, right? Well, it turned out to be not too difficult or time-consuming, although the result was a bit messy.

Sync Google Calendar with calendars in Outlook and the iPhone
Who knew Google Calendar and Outlook could play so nice? The aptly named Google Calendar Sync does the trick with just a few clicks and a minimum of thumb-twiddling. The program works with Outlook 2003 and 2007 on XP and Vista PCs, though it doesn't support 64-bit XP, according to Google.

After you download and install the program, you enter your Google ID and password and choose one of three options: sync from and to Google Calendar and Outlook; sync from Google Calendar to Outlook; or sync from Outlook to Google Calendar. The default sync time is 120 minutes, and the minimum setting is 10 minutes; there's no mention of a maximum setting. The sync begins after you click Save.

Choose two-way or one-way sync between Outlook and Google Calendar in the Google Calendar Sync utility.

(Credit: Google)

Up-and-down arrows on the Google Calendar icon in the notification area indicate a sync in progress; hover over it to see the percent complete or the time of the last sync.

The program converted my relatively simple Google Calendar to Outlook 2007 with surprising accuracy. In fact, the two calendars appeared and acted very much alike. Keep in mind, I didn't transfer any tricky repeating appointments, invitations, or time-zone changes. But for my meager calendar needs, the sync was fast and comprehensive.

To sync your Google Calendar and Gmail contacts with an iPhone, simply use the phone to create a Google Sync account. Instructions for OS version 2.2 and 3.0 are on the Google Mobile Help site.

Unfortunately, Google Sync is limited in the fields it supports and doesn't let you exclude entries or deal with duplicates. These and other of the program's limitations are described on the Google Sync Help page.

Move your iPhone contacts to Gmail and Outlook, or vice-versa
Use iTunes to export your iPhone contacts to Outlook--and Gmail, if you choose not to go the Google Sync route described above. Plug your iPhone into your PC, choose the device in iTunes' left pane, and select the Info tab. Pick either Outlook or Google Contacts in the "Sync contacts from" drop-down menu. (Yahoo Address Book and Windows Address Book are the other options.) For Outlook, you can choose which groups to sync. For Gmail, you enter your user ID and password.

Your only sync options are to merge or replace the entries iTunes identifies as duplicates, and to choose between two entries pegged as conflicts. The resulting sync was full of double entries, but I would much rather deal with manually merging the dupes than losing the information either entry contains.

iTunes' sync with Google Contacts provides few options for dealing with duplicate entries.

(Credit: Apple)

I'll probably spend another hour or so cleaning up the extra entries created by the contact sync, but that's much less time than I'd spend trying to replace the info.

(Credit: CNET)

Everyone knows they should back up their data, but a surprisingly small percentage of people actually do. Unfortunately, when the big crash finally comes or you experience a hard-drive failure, that's usually the time you realize you should have been backing up all along. There are a number of programs that make it easier to regularly back up your hard drive, but in my experience, many require several steps to get the job done.

Nero's BackItUp and Burn ($39.99), released yesterday, attempts to make the whole process easier for everyone. Using an intuitive tabbed interface and simple controls, just about anyone can pick up BackItUp and Burn and start a regular schedule for backups or folder syncing in only a few clicks. The software even offers the option of sending you an e-mail notification when automated backups are complete.

It's incredibly easy to set up a backup schedule so you never have to worry about your data again

(Credit: CNET)

BackItUp and Burn also includes full burning capabilities (as the name suggests), letting you burn your music, videos, data, and pictures to CD, DVD, or Blue-ray Discs so you have a hard copy of your most important personal files. Nero offers a free Gigabyte of online storage for a three-month trial, but you'll need to buy a subscription (there are three tiers to choose from) if you want to store more data in the cloud. You can pay as little as $7.49 for 5GB of storage for three months, or as much as $59.99 for 25GB of storage for a year. You should be aware that this program requires the latest Microsoft .NET Framework in order to run (you will be prompted to download during install). You also will have the choice of installing the Ask Toolbar during install.

Nobody wants to lose all his or her data, but too few of us actually take the steps necessary to create regular backups. Nero's BackItUp and Burn provides novice and advanced users a way to keep music, photos, and data safe without a lot of hassle and at a fairly affordable price.

CrossLoop is a smooth, free, and lightweight screen- and file-sharing program, formerly available only for Windows users. Earlier this month, a Mac beta version debuted offering the same features. Besides extending the feature set to Macs, the PC and Mac versions can talk to each other and share across platforms.

For those unfamiliar with the program, which uses 128-bit encryption, you're given a unique and random 12-digit access code each time you start the program. You can then share your username and code to allow somebody else to access your computer, or input another user's info to access his computer. Guests can use any app and save files on your computer, as if they were sitting in front of the machines. No router configuration is required, either. CrossLoop bases its business model on connecting freelancing tech support with those in need of assistance. It doesn't support multiple users, so it's not a good platform for group presentations.

In testing the Mac beta with CrossLoop co-founder Mrinal Desai, I noticed a virtually identical experience to the stable PC version. There were some resolution and image quality issues, which Desai assured me had more to do with bandwidth than the program itself. Although CrossLoop defaults to autodetect your pipeline, you can force it to use faster connection speeds, resulting in lower resolution, or slower speeds for higher quality images.

Although I didn't encounter any bugs when testing the beta on my own, Desai pointed out to me one major problem: dragging and dropping files to share causes CrossLoop Mac to crash. Browsing directly to the files through the program to share them causes no problems.

If you've used CrossLoop for Mac or Windows, please share your opinions in the comments below.

(Credit: FileMaker, Inc.)

You don't have to own a Mac to use FileMaker's new Bento for iPhone and iPod Touch--released Tuesday in the iTunes App Store--but if you do, wireless sync adds extra incentive to take your personal databases to go.

Bento ($4.99) offers non-Mac users a portable personal database for storing everything from birthdays and home expenses to recipes and an exercise log, with 25 templates to start. Integration with the address book, dialer, Safari browser, e-mail in-box, and Google Maps make Bento a useful iPhone app offering that could become a master storehouse for your separate lists; and one that quickly facilitates calls, mapping, and Web searches from within the app.

We got a demo of the handsome, dark Bento app a few weeks ago. After playing with it for a while, it appears to balance a mine of data fields with the iPhone's customarily accessible interface. Bento's home screen displays all your data libraries, which you can swipe through to view. Other screens let you add a new library, search for entries, or sync to Bento on the Mac. Each new library is prepopulated with one dummy entry to get you started. While there is a dedicated search screen, a similar search field within each library facilitates more advanced investigations of your data.

While straightforward at the top level, Bento for iPhone has a few more tricks tucked away--like the option to rate your contacts (your child's babysitters, for instance), and add additional data fields. Bento will also let you create subcollections within any record with the push of a button that looks like three overlapping squares. Those familiar with Bento 2 for Mac will note that while calculations and related records from the desktop version can be transferred to and used on the iPhone version, you won't be able to create either on the device.

We won't know for sure until we build up some databases of our own, but after looking at Bento for iPhone in its prelaunch state, it seems promising for the uberorganized.

Whether getting rid of an old computer or just making a clean start for your favorite hard drive--do hard drives even get to be honored as "favorites?"--it's important to wipe it clean. With one's and zero's and data recovery, though, it's harder than you might think to make sure that your personal data is gone forever. This collection of drive bombs showcases four free programs for internal and external drive data deletion, as well as files and folders on the fly.

Eraser shreds files on-demand or by schedule.

(Credit: Heidi Computing)

For shredding individual files or folders, or entire drives, Eraser reminds me of an ugly, but effective hit man. Also known as Heidi Eraser, after its publisher, the program's interface is plain and unadorned, but also easy enough to figure out and because of its simplicity will work with operating systems as old as Windows 95.

Mouse-over tooltips help identify tasks that the generic icons take you to, and a native Windows Explorer context menu addition makes one-shot shredding easy despite the lack of a simple deletion button in the main interface. Otherwise, when deleting files both large and small, you'll need to first add the file or folder to the spreadsheet display. Drives can be added to the shred list in the same way. Users can schedule shreddings, too--handy for routinely wiping free disk space. Four secure government-sanctioned deletion algorithms keep those deletions dead, including algorithms from the U.S. Department of Defense, the default Gutmann method, Pseudorandom Data, and DBAN for hard drives.

That brings us to DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke), which wipes internal hard drives only. It comes in two flavors of data-destroying pain: one to be installed on CD or DVD, and one for floppies or USB thumbdrives. Once you have the program installed on the proper removable media, you need to make sure that your computer will boot from that drive. If it needs adjustment, this can be done from your BIOS. The Autonuke option will delete all detectable hard drives, including the C: drive. The interactive mode lets you choose which hard drive or partitions you'd like to obliterate. Once you've chosen what you'd like to destroy, F10 will start the process.

Darik's Boot and Nuke warning screen.

(Credit: Darik Horn)

DBAN's not for the timid. Since it runs separate from the operating system, the user interface is basic and similar to what your BIOS looks like.

File Shredder's also seen some good notices. Covered in a drastically more modern interface than Eraser, File Shredder looks like a file deletion-specific version of Windows Explorer. It supports shredding files both individually and as a group, aided by simple commands such as Add File and Add Folder. Once you've chosen your targets, you can choose from five shredding algorithms, ranging from simple one pass to the Department of Defense 5220-22.M to the Gutmann algorithm. The Disk Wiper mode can clean free space on a hard drive.

Despite its modernity, File Shredder lacks a scheduler and offers no hooks into the recycle bin, which means that files that are already there must be dealt with by hand before they can be shredded. Unlike Eraser, it doesn't do full drives, either.

CCleaner also contains a hidden shredding component. Go to Options, then Settings, and choose Secure File Deletion at the bottom of the window. From there, you can adjust the number of overwrites the program will make on deleted files, from the standard one pass up through the Gutmann 35 passes. Also included are the three-pass Department of Defense standards and the National Security Agency 7-pass standard. CCleaner is probably the most user-friendly of the options in this collection, but it's really only for shredding files that get detected by the program. For more selective shredding, the other options are recommended.

Unknown to many, CCleaner contains a file-shredding option.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

I'm including Zilla Data Nuker more as a warning than an actual recommendation. You should only use Zilla Data Nuker if it's version 2 or earlier. Version 3 installs the Relevant Knowledge spyware and doesn't give you the choice of opting out. However, older versions don't, and so they can stay on the table even though they don't include this horrible business practice.

As a program, Zilla Data Nuker works well, with multiple algorithms and a good-looking interface. Included are a scheduler and the capability to shred via context menu and to shred an entire drive. If it wasn't for the lack of the Gutmann algorithm and the business practices that the publisher now endorses, I'd recommend Zilla more strongly. As it is, give it a pass unless you have no other option.

With all of these programs, I found that file or drive size was a more restrictive determinant on shredding speed than anything else. These are definitely programs for users with patience: if you're truly concerned with sweeping away your data footprints, you probably shouldn't be too worried about how long it takes to wipe out any trace that you were there.

There are probably at least a dozen decent shredders out there. If you have a favorite that I missed, let me know in the comments.

(Credit: CNET)

Just about everyone who works with a computer knows they should perform regular backups, but only a very small percentage actually do. While people's intentions are good, most simply think backing up their computer is too much trouble or software is too complex to figure out. Unfortunately, when the big crash finally does occur or a laptop is stolen, for example, the resulting loss of important data has us pulling our hair out wondering why we didn't take the plunge on backup software.

Today, a front-runner in backup software on Windows machines released a strong backup solution for Mac. Backblaze takes the guesswork out of backing up your data with an easy to understand interface, simple scheduling tools, and a brand-new external drives backup interface. To keep your data safe, use the Backblaze preference pane to securely back up your data online so when the unthinkable happens, you can resync your data from the last backup. Backblaze lets you restore from the Web or you can get a DVD or USB drive sent through FedEx.

The initial backup can take some time, but you can pause the process if you need to.

(Credit: CNET)

On launch, Backblaze gets to work analyzing your drive for irreplaceable documents immediately, automatically scanning for important files like photos, music files, and other important documents. The files are automatically encrypted on your hard drive, compressed, and then sent to the Backblaze servers in their encrypted state. The initial backup can take up to a few days depending on your Internet connection, but once it's finished, Backblaze backs up files continuously as you work, making sure you won't lose the latest file revisions or recently added music and photos.

While you shouldn't notice a significant change in your Mac's performance during backups, you have the option of scheduling a time each day to perform the backup. Those who want full control over their backup schedule can simply hit a button to Backup Now whenever it's convenient.

The demo gives you a 15-day trial to find out if Backblaze is right for you, and a $5/month subscription fee is all you'll need to get regular backups with unlimited storage. Also, Backblaze is offering the first 25 people who install today a free 1-year license. Clearly, they will go quickly, so grab your copy as soon as possible.

Hawkscope is a cross-platform, open-source project that provides alternative navigation through your files for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Still in beta, it's also extensible, so not only can you jump folders in a zippy, context menu-style tree, but you can search Google, check your Gmail, and post to your Twitter account from the Hawkscope interface.

Hawkscope provides menu-based file navigation.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Hawkscope appears as a hawk icon just next to your clock, so that's the system tray for Windows and the menu bar for Macs. For users with dark themes, the icon might be hard to see--look for an empty spot in between other icons. Click on it to make the menu appear, and you'll find pre-loaded options such as your profile folder, your local drive and any networked or external drives, and a Settings menu near the bottom. The menu is divided into the Quick Access list at the top, file system roots in the middle, and the Hawkscope menu at the bottom.

From Settings, you can customize much of the program. The General tab configures the icon theme independent of your operating system, a neat if simple little trick. The next tab, Quick Access, lets you add, remove, and reorder folders that appear at the very top of the Hawkscope menu. In my screenshot, you can see that I've set Blogs and Reviews and My Pictures to show up there. The Blacklist tab prevents certain folders or file types from appearing, while Network configures a proxy if you need one.

Plugins is the following tab, and that's where Hawkscope starts to get interesting. As you can see from my screenshot, I've added the Gmail and search Google plugins. Hit the Get Plugins button to open up the Hawkscope plugins Web page, and download any of the plugins that interest you into the Hawkscope plugin folder. Once you've clicked the Reload Plugins button, you should see what you've just installed in your plugin list. Hit OK and they should appear at the top of the main Hawkscope navigation.

Hawkscope provides users with useful system integration, including proxies and custom configuration.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

The Gmail plugin shows all your new e-mail in a drop-down list, which is tolerable but overwhelming when you've got a large number of them. Click on one to open it in a new browser window. I noticed that the plugin has problems switching between Gmail accounts, and--somewhat scarily, for secuity reasons--kept accessing one account, even when the user name and password had been replaced by another account.

The Search Google plugin works better, with a desktop-based search field that opens for you to enter your query. Hit Enter and it opens a new Web page with your Google search results. Currently, the small list of plug-ins supports two others that I didn't test: Tweeting from Hawkscope, and executing commands from the main menu.

I like that Hawkscope is taking another look at reinvigorating the context menu format, but the way it's done feels awkward at times. If you have a deep tree of folders and you haven't pre-programmed your most commonly-used ones to the Quick Access menu, it can take a lot of time to find what you're looking for. Hawkscope would be more useful, too, were it hot key accessible. Keyboard junkies could pull up the menu with quick combo and then use the arrow keys to maneuver. As it stands, it's an interesting way of browsing your files, but mostly because it's available on the major operating systems.

Back in July 2008, torrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced plans to encrypt the Internet. That hasn't happened yet, but they plan to offer a VPN tunneling service to the public starting April 1.

Dubbing the service IPREDator after the controversial Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) that takes effect the same day. IPRED's main goal is to make it easier for copyright holders to acquire the personal data of suspected illegal file sharers.

By offering a VPN service that doesn't log its traffic, IPREDator is simultaneously setting itself apart from other Web-based VPN services and offering what looks like a way to legally evade IPRED. Without logs, users will be able to exchange data without worrying about a subpoena revealing to whom the data packets were going, or what their contents were.

Other details about the new VPN service are thin, except that users will be asked to pay a small premium, approximately $6.77 or 5 euros, for the service. It's also not clear if the service will be compatible with other non-file sharing uses, or if it will try to compete with other encrypted tunneling services like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC.

The current beta is free and can be signed up for at the IPREDator site, although it's taking only 500 testers. If anybody does get a chance to use the beta service, please post about it below.

Amidst the crowd of peer-to-peer file-sharing options comes an attempt to return file-sharing to its utilitarian roots and away from legal quagmires by emphasizing file-publishing. Free and open-source, LittleShoot is the brainchild of Adam Fisk, a LimeWire developer who wants LittleShoot to be "like Google for files instead of Web pages."

LittleShoot manages torrents as well as scouring the Web for most major file formats.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Where most P2P programs are standalone clients, LittleShoot is a browser plug-in like QuickTime or Shockwave that should work with all major browsers. It utilizes an AJAX-based interface at LittleShoot.org to search, publish, and download files. Once you've downloaded and installed the plug-in, it will take you to the LittleShoot.org search page unless you opt out. From there, entering any search term will return results with hits from YouTube, IsoHunt, Flickr, Yahoo, and LimeWire. A SafeSearch option attempts to restrict inappropriate content.

The most recent version introduces torrent-handling abilities. Check out any torrent site, download the torrent, and LittleShoot will automatically start downloading it. LittleShoot lacks advanced features like throttling, but for a basic set-it-and-forget-it torrent client, it's not too shabby. Helpful links on the side make it easy to Twitter or Facebook the torrent, and a drop-down menu gives you access to dozens more sharing options.

Non-torrent files found by LittleShoot will open in a new window, but can't be downloaded directly.

Unfortunately, the publishing option wasn't working when I tested it. When you click "Browse," you can search your hard drive for files to share. Once you've chosen a file, you can tag it--however, the JPG and WMV files I tried to upload didn't work. Even with these drawbacks, LittleShoot looks like an interesting attempt to demystify file-sharing by making it more accessible than it's been so far.