Take Control of a Remote Machine
Sunbelt Software, Sunbelt Remote Administrator,
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com, 727-562-0101, 888-688-8457
Windows & .NET Magazine reader John Gehrke from Arvada, Colorado, nominates Sunbelt Software's Sunbelt Remote Administrator (Radmin) as a top product. He says, "This program rules—I use it every day and will until the last Windows NT Server is gone."
Radmin is a remote control program that runs as a service and supports multiple remote control and view sessions on one screen. You can take control of all the mouse and keyboard functions of the remote computer on your machine. The remote computer can be anywhere on the Internet or LAN. You can be connected to the remote PC through a modem to reach the remote screen at a reasonable speed. On a LAN, you can reach real-time update speeds of approximately 100 to 500 screen updates per second. The product features full-screen, scaling, and window view modes. File transfer capability lets you transfer files to or from any remote computer. A remote shutdown feature lets you shut down the remote computer. Radmin supports Windows security, so you can give remote control rights to a specific user or user group. The product provides 128-bit encryption of all its data streams. Radmin serves as a tool for systems administrators, the Help desk, customer service, telecommuters, and anyone else who needs secure access. Pricing starts at $35 for one license.
Combine and Group Your Shortcuts
TrueSoft, True Launch Bar,
http://www.truelaunchbar.com, [email protected]
TrueSoft's True Launch Bar is a replacement for the standard Quick Launch bar and features the same functions as the Quick Launch bar, but additionally, True Launch Bar lets you combine your shortcuts into groups. The groups can appear as pop-up menus, so you can better manage your shortcuts and save space on your desktop. Settings such as the Auto popup menus on mouse hover option let you run shortcuts with one click. Jan Roose of Brussels, Belgium, recommends True Launch Bar as a top product. She says, "True Launch Bar saves me hundreds of clicks a day by organizing the submenus in a very versatile way. One of the great features is that it's able to create a virtual folder from any local or network folder, then transform the folder into a Quick Launch menu. Since I started using True Launch Bar, my Start menu is very seldom used on my systems."
True Launch Bar costs $19.90, and you can purchase a personal, home, small business, corporate, or OEM license. True Launch Bar runs on Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Windows 98.
Maintain a Consistent Backup Process
EVault, EVault Protect, http://www.evault.com,
925-944-2422, 877-382-8581
Matthew Anderson, a senior network administrator for Mission Community Bank of Walnut Creek, California, gives high praise to EVault's EVault Protect, an outsourced data protection and recovery service. Anderson says, "Restoring files is a concern for Mission Community Bank. EVault offers the ability to back up from any location using a secure Internet connection. EVault also provides the bank with the option to have other types of media delivered, along with hardware to read the media, in case of an emergency. The customer support staff is excellent and always available to assist us. They have been very supportive and have even given our bank a call to offer assistance when they noticed a server had not backed up one day."
EVault Protect is designed for small to midsized organizations that have limited IT resources. The service automates the data backup and restoration process and doesn't require you to purchase additional hardware or media. The service lets you choose from five levels of security when encrypting and performing data transfer. EVault Protect supports servers running Windows 2000, Windows NT, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, Novell NetWare, and HP-UX. Contact EVault for pricing.
