23.5.07

FTP Tips for IE7 Dummies! Bring the Folders Back.

We were disapointed to learn upon upgrading to IE7 that the FTP interface had become less user friendly. Here are some simple Tips to get you up and running with IE7 & FTP.

1. For IE7 Dummies: IE7 does not default to a Windows interface. To view FTP sites in the IE6 Windows Explorer folder format, click the Page button, located at the upper right of your browser, and then click Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer.


2.If you are not seeing this option under Page,
Go to the Tools Button at the far right of your Browser menu.
Go to Internet Options.
Hit the Advanced Tab. Go to the Browsing Section.
Check Enable Folder View (outside of Internet Explorer).

Hit Apply, Hit OK.

3. If you are not able to access the FTP site at all, you may also need to adjust this setting.
Open your IE 7 browser.
Go to the Tools Button at the far right of your Browser menu.
Go to Internet Options.
Hit the Advanced Tab. Go to the Browsing Section.
Uncheck: Use Passive FTP
Hit Apply. Hit OK.

4. For Purists: We recommend you get out of your IE7 browser and type or paste, the FTP site address into the address bar inside My Computer. Voila! You will instantly be able to access your FTP site in the familiar Windows format . If this does not work, go back and complete Steps 2 & 3 and then retry Step 4.

Disclaimer: These tips are based on our experiences and may not work for everyone. We welcome more tips and suggestions!

15.5.07

Recommended Reading: Transition from 2D to 3D

Transition from 2D to 3D

The Shift to 3D >Sara Ferris - DeskTop Engineering

While transitioning to 3D is gaining steam, 2D remains entrenched for a number of reasons.

AutoCAD Monkey Revisited

AutoCAD Joke of the Month

9.5.07

Carbonite - Don't Stress - Back Up Your Hard Drive!

One of our friends fried his hard drive this week. We asked if he was upset. He told us that he had subscribed to Carbonite and could recover his data thanks to their on-line back-up service.

We decided to try it. Carbonite installed seamlessly while we were working on several projects and multi-tasking on our computer. Carbonite gives you options to back up some or all of your data. Your first back-up to their server may take 24 hours or more. It attaches a yellow ball symbol to all files that are being backed-up. We have not noticed any loss in speed or interruption to our work flow while our back-up is taking place. A year's subscription to their automatic back-up service is available for only $49.95. We are already less stressed!

http://www.carbonite.com/

Carbonite Followup- 6/02/07: It took Carbonite approx a week to back up everything on our test computer. Now it just backs up new data. The Carbonite indicators attached to all files are helpful as they change color to show the status of backup process (The yellow ball symbols changed to blue when backup was completed). Our friend with the crashed computer reported that he was able to restore all data backed up to Carbonite successfully.

Carbonite Followup - 7/19/07 - You may want to read about other users experiences with this software and their recommendations before you install Carbonite. Pros and Cons are discussed on the blog, Fresh Thinking.

http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2007/07/12/remote-file-back-services-carbonite-review/#comment-45330

Carbonite Followup - 9/19/07 - Heads Up for subscribers: Carbonite only gives a 1 week notice if your subscription is about to expire. This can be a hassle if you are between pay checks.

Carbonite Followup - 8/25/08 - Carbonite can slow our old computer to a crawl just when we are under pressure to get some work done. We found that by right clicking the icon in the Windows XP tray notification area, we can pause Carbonite for 24 hours or less.

2.5.07

AutoCAD - Can't Zoom Viewport? Don't Panic - It is Locked!

If you cannot Zoom inside a viewport in your AutoCAD drawing, look for the viewport and list it in Properties. If the Display Locked property says Yes, Change it to No.

It is a good idea to Lock your viewport if you want to protect the scale of your views. This is especially helpful for large site plans or if recovering your view will be difficult.

It can be confusing, however, to receive a drawing with a locked viewport, if you are not familiar with this feature. When the viewport is locked, zooming inside MS zooms the entire drawing. Just unlock it!