We have earlier written about the basic hard drive recovery tips, which talks about early preventive measures and this time, we would talk about software based data recovery that ...]]> One of the worst things that can happen to your laptop or Desktop PC is Hard disk Crash. It puts your critical data at risk, takes a lot of time in recovery compared to any other OS level damage/virus issues and often leads you to buying a new hard disk, especially when it has been physically damaged.

We have earlier written about the basic hard drive recovery tips, which talks about early preventive measures and this time, we would talk about software based data recovery that can help recover all your lost data, if things go out of your hands.

When you want all your lost data to get recovered using a data recovery software tool, there are certain precautions you need to take care of. Take a look at some of those precautions first.

1. It is advisable to create an image of the hard drive having bad sectors. It makes data recovery lot more easier and feasible.

2. Do not overwrite any data over the crashed/formatted hard drive. Deleted data from the hard disk can be retrieved only if hard drive is not overwritten with some other data. Hence, avoid using hard drive until you’ve recovered the data from it.

3. It is often presumed that if hard drive is physically damaged, the data can’t be recovered at all but it’s a half-truth. It depends on the extent of hard disk damage and there are definite chances that data can still be recovered from it.

4. Do not play with hard drive or any of its critical components such as connector pins as this might lead your hard drive to becoming permanently irrecoverable.

Keeping the above tips in mind, you can start recovering your data using a credible Data recovery tool. In our case, we used Data Recovery Software from Stellar, a specialist in hard drive data recovery for over a dacade.

Stellar provides easy-to-use data recovery tool, which makes it easier for the end user to self-recover lost/deleted data from crashed/formatted hard disk.

While testing Stellar data recovery software myself, i tried recovering deleted files from a USB Flash drive, external hard drive and an internal hard drive. I am glad that i could recover every single deleted file from all data storage mediums.

The critical advantage of using this software is its ease of use. Hard Drive Data Recovery is generally perceived as a specialist job, which can’t be executed by a common person but after getting our hands on this tool, we can certainly recommend it to any guy who knows basic computer operations.

And you don’t need to shell out money before you actually see if you can recover the data you lost or not. You just need to download a partition recovery trial software (for free, of course) and start using it right away. When you scan formatted/crashed hard drive using trial software and see your lost files, just upgrade your trial version to full version and get your data recovered in a couple of minutes. And i must mention here that support upto Windows 7 is there as well so there’s no need to worry as far as compatibility issues are concerned.

So now, if you come across any hard disk failure or loose your data accidentally, you know what you got to do !

The bestsellers are most probable to remain consumer electronics as they allure folks from all ages and generally offer most lucrative and festive offers to their customers. Among consumer electronics, smartphones and ...]]> Now is the time when the festive mood is taking over the recessive days and holiday shopping is just starting to begin. Online selling hotspots such as eBay are seeing sudden surge in sales and despite economic slowdown, the end customers are finally gaining back the spending capacity and leaving no chance to buy what they were eyeing for.

The bestsellers are most probable to remain consumer electronics as they allure folks from all ages and generally offer most lucrative and festive offers to their customers. Among consumer electronics, smartphones and HDTVs are expected to rule this season.

When we talk about smartphones, iPhone and most recently launched, Motorola Droid, will hopefully lead the way to massive sales but when it comes to LCD Televisions, the competition isn’t going to be so predictable. All major brand names such as LG, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba are making no mistake in offering customers, best deals on multiple variants of televisions such as LCD, Plasma and most recent, LED TVs.

To be fair, it’s quite a tough task for an end customer to figure out differences between LCD, Plasma and LED TVs. All these technologies have advanced to a stage where any of these variants don’t make a huge difference, specially when somebody is busy watching his favorite show on any of the Televisions. The factor that matters the most is the Pricing.

Before making any buying decision, one needs to look around and check out dedicated consumer electronics websites such as LCD TV reviews on web and choose the one that suits the pocket and also comes with the best feature set. Market competition is favoring customers so well that some of the LCD TV deals are actually being priced at surprisingly low cost.

So be it LCD TV, Plasma or LED TV, the price tag and the brand name will be one of the most important factors for any buyer before taking a decision of buying his dream television this fall. Anyways, it appears that the consumers as well as product manufacturing companies are about to get a new life after struggling all this year.

Subnetting is the process of breaking down a large IP Network into smaller sub-networks for efficient utilization of limited resource of IP address pool. As defined in IPv4 standard, an IP address is a 32 bit address, sub-divided into four pair of octets, which collectively serves as a unique address for any

Why Subnetting is required ?

In early days of networking, the networks used to be smaller and networking devices used to be costly and larger in size. It was hard to predict the future of networking at ...]]> What is Subnetting ?

Subnetting is the process of breaking down a large IP Network into smaller sub-networks for efficient utilization of limited resource of IP address pool. As defined in IPv4 standard, an IP address is a 32 bit address, sub-divided into four pair of octets, which collectively serves as a unique address for any

Why Subnetting is required ?

In early days of networking, the networks used to be smaller and networking devices used to be costly and larger in size. It was hard to predict the future of networking at that time. When Classful addressing was introduced, only three classes namely Class A, B & C were existent.

But it didn’t take much time to realize the inefficiencies of the existing system and an urgent need for an efficient solution to compensate those inefficiencies of classful addressing system. This gave rise to Subnetting.

In what ways, can subnetting be represented ?

There are two ways by which Subnetting can be represented.

• Subnet Mask
• CIDR (Classless Inter Domain Routing)

Subnet Mask : As IP addresses are 32 bit addresses paired in 4 octets, subnet mask is also a 32 bit mask, that has ‘1′ bit corresponding to a network bit as well as subnet bit and ‘0′ bit corresponding to a host bit of the IP address.

CIDR : In this method, the number of 1’s in Subnet mask are simply counted and the final count is appended at the end of  the subnetted IP address.

An Example

For instance, if a Class A IP address is 20.65.89.39 then its first 8 bits represents Network bits and next 24 bitsrepresent Host bits. Now, to make this addressing scheme more efficient for smaller networks, we can designate the 16 bits after Network bits as Subnet bits. This way, only 8 bits are left as Host bits. Now, this scenario can be represented with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

Automated Subnetting

Although subnet calculation can be done manually but there are automated tools, such as Subnet Calculator, which can be put to use, whenever you want to quickly automate the subnetting process.

The newer trends are pointing towards locking consumers in an yearly or two-yearly data plans by alluring them with a high-end smartphone at much affordable price. Ultimately, it’s the end consumer that’s getting the best broadband deal.

But it often happens that a user signs up ...]]> As more and more users are swiftly adopting internet in europe and most aggressively in UK, the competition between various broadband service providers is getting fierce. The days of recession are yet to pass by but the monthly rentals of broadband plans have started going down like never before.

The newer trends are pointing towards locking consumers in an yearly or two-yearly data plans by alluring them with a high-end smartphone at much affordable price. Ultimately, it’s the end consumer that’s getting the best broadband deal.

But it often happens that a user signs up for a mobile broadband plan from one service provider and later realizes that there was another deal, which was much cost-effective and lucrative than the one he chose earlier. In any such case, the only reason why users settle for a costlier deal can be attributed to being a little hasty while choosing service provider and skipping any market research before choosing their service provider.

There are websites, particularly dedicated for the purpose of aggregating  latest broadband service plans from available service providers. Such an aggregation is always a great place to look around, especially when you’re about to choose a broadband plan for internet on PC/Smartphone. One such website is BroadbandSuppliers.

It’s a website that list out mobile broadband service providers within U.K. and gives you an overview of available alternatives you may want to opt for. This site can certainly make parallel broadband comparison much easier & helpful for those who are residents of U.K.

In case, you’re skeptical if your region has got enough broadband coverage, it’s better you check your area’s broadband availability first.

There are plenty of offers that various service providers keep coming up with, hence it’s a website that can also be put to use, in case, you’ve plans to choose your broadband service plan sometime later.

It could be better if they could extend their aggregation service beyond U.K. but currently, BroadbandSuppliers seems to be serving U.K only.

From now on, you can expect a regular flow of such write-ups relating to Web and Networking concepts. Here goes the first one…

OSI Model

Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model is a well defined hierarchical architecture of  seven communication layers, each of which, represents several protocols, serving particular requirements for efficient and error-free data communication over ...]]> Apart from reviewing startups, we’re now responding to some of the issues that our readers have been constantly asking for. Many of our readers have suggested us to write about basic networking concepts, but simplified and digestible.

From now on, you can expect a regular flow of such write-ups relating to Web and Networking concepts. Here goes the first one…

OSI Model

Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model is a well defined hierarchical architecture of  seven communication layers, each of which, represents several protocols, serving particular requirements for efficient and error-free data communication over single or multiple networks.

This multi-layered model developed by International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) forms the basis of data communication over internet and smaller public or private networks.

Seven layers of OSI Model

The seven layers that stack together the OSI model are : Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation and Application layer. Let’s analyse the layers further.

Physical layer : It is the lowest layer of OSI Model that defines the electrical and physical interface specifications of the end point devices. It tells you how a device is connected to another device across a network. The physical interface can be a serial, ethernet or any other physical medium of data transfer.

Data Link layer : This layer defines the logical procedures for error-free and time-bound data transfer from one network terminal to another. Protocols used under Data link layer such as Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) try to rectify the errors that might have occurred as a result of data transmission across physical layer.

Network layer : It is probably the most critical layer in entire OSI model. Network layer holds the responsibility of implementing appropriate protocols and procedures to route the data efficiently from source to destination client across single or multiple networks. It involves various routing and routed (Routing and Routed are different, explanation held for another dedicated write-up)

Transport layer : This layer is responsible for the reliability of the data to be transferred across the network. The protocols under this layer, namely Transmission Control Protocol(TCP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP) among others, ensure data reliability through flow control, segmentation & desegmentation and error control.

Session layer : As the name suggests, this layer controls and monitors the sessions held between computers, either locally or remotely, across the network. Protocols such as Session Announcement Protocol(SAP) and NetBIOS basically administer network connections (or sessions),  right from establishment to termination.

Presentation layer : This layer has two major purposes, format translation and encryption. It is the responsibility of presentation layer to translate information from the network layer, making data interpretable to Application layer and vice-versa. The other key responsibility is encryption, which basically adds an additional level of security before data transmission across the network takes place.

Application layer : This layer represents the software applications used by the end user. Application layer protocols such as HTTP, FTP, Telnet among others, facilitate the end user to do needful tasks using various software applications.

But Web browser is one such sector in internet landscape that has seen the most fierce competition from some of the biggest technology companies in the world. What once started as an experimental software by Netscape communications, grew up massively in no time by hooking up tens of  thousands of ...]]> Web browsers have been the gateway for end users to the world of Internet. Technically, Web browser is a desktop application that lets users access web based applications, web services and web based information sources, with the help of website addresses(URLs).

But Web browser is one such sector in internet landscape that has seen the most fierce competition from some of the biggest technology companies in the world. What once started as an experimental software by Netscape communications, grew up massively in no time by hooking up tens of  thousands of  users and helped them getting their first steps in the infancy stage of internet.

The biggest technology company of that time, Microsoft, after smelling the opportunity in evolving web browser industry, tried its level best to acquire Netscape but when things didn’t fall in place, Microsoft started working on its own web browser called Internet Explorer. Due to strong financial backing, good product quality, brand trust and default inclusion with Windows OS, it didn’t take much time for Internet Explorer to outweigh Netscape and become the most popular browser for accessing internet.

Until the launch of Firefox by Mozilla corporation in the year 2003, Internet Explorer remained the most popular web browser and enjoyed almost 95% of the market share. Since then, Internet explorer has been upgraded multiple times by Microsoft(currently, the most recent version is Internet Explorer 8 ) but the net market share is on a steady decline. From 95% of browser market share at one stage, Internet Explorer(all versions together) today accounts for about 64% of worldwide browser usage. This drift has largely gone in favor of Mozilla Firefox, followed by Apple Safari, Google Chrome(Most recent) and Opera. There are plenty of other web browsers existent on web but haven’t managed to gain mass popularity due to various reasons.

Now, take a look at these seven web browsers, which have something exclusive to offer you…Let’s get started !

Internet Explorer : With a history of over a decade in browser industry, this web browser has its reasons to continue as the leader in browser industry for such a long time. It might not be as ‘innovative’ or ‘cool’ as many of its competitors are but as long as Microsoft Windows stays dominant in OS industry (which is highly probable), Internet Explorer won’t be easy(but still possible) to be overtaken by any of its competitors.

One big advantage of using IE is site compatibility factor. Almost every developer/company builds website(s), keeping Internet Explorer(most popular browser) in mind. So, if you’re using latest version of Internet Explorer, you’re most unlikely to come across browser incompatibility issues with any website.

Mozilla Firefox : Firefox is slowly becoming the ‘hot favorite’ browser for accessing internet, specially by the more aware internet population. Mozilla Firefox is probably the only browser that gives you every reason to choose it over any other browser. From useful add-ons to lightening fast browsing experience to secured browsing, Firefox is certainly the most feature-rich browser till date. It currently commands a browser market share of around 25%.

Apple Safari : This browser comes as a default application in Apple Mac machines and that’s probably the only reason why it has managed to secure a small but considerable market share of just over 3.5%. The browser itself is light & fast but stands weak, when compared with Firefox and other fellow competitors.

Google Chrome : This Google powered browser has recently fired up the browser market scenario and has quickly made its way to become the 4th most popular web browser(slightly over 3% of market share) till date. If Google keeps up the pace with Chrome’s updates and promotions, it will certainly outpace Safari within a couple of months from now, becoming the most popular browser after IE and Firefox.

After a recent news that Google is working on a Chrome browser based Operating System called ChromeOS, the probability of Chrome’s future explosive growth has multiplied by many folds. Google Chrome is currently the fastest web browser and if Google makes its Operating system a global success, its highly plausible that Firefox and even Internet Explorer might have to settle down with much less market share than what it commands at the moment.

Opera : Opera is a fast and light-weight web browser that has its own reserved following. It is only used by a small fraction of users worldwide but that fraction keeps sticking to it, no matter what browser gets introduced to them. Opera’s history, although roots back to 1994 but the browser could never really capture the mainstream market share mainly because of relatively weak financial backing.

Flock : It is a web browser that might appear alluring to those who are agressively active into social media stuff. Flock has integrated all popular social networking and social media services within browser sidebar, giving users an easy way to access and get updated within browser itself.

Spacetime : It is the first ever 3D web browser till date. One can call it an ‘innovative’ browser but its definitely not something one would feel comfortable browsing with. If you ever feel like showing off your geek factor to your fellow buddies, this is one browser you should be using that time.

To keep things simple and digestible, here is an in-depth brief-up of XML, explaining its meaning, basic purpose and relevance to the web. Take a look.

What is XML

eXtensible Markup Language, abbreviated as XML, is a markup language which is meant for the purpose ...]]> Hypertext Markup Language, popularly known as HTML is well known to most of us. It is probably the first lesson taught to any guy who aspires getting into the field of web development. But XML, although high relevant to the web, has not gained awareness to great extent.

To keep things simple and digestible, here is an in-depth brief-up of XML, explaining its meaning, basic purpose and relevance to the web. Take a look.

What is XML

eXtensible Markup Language, abbreviated as XML, is a markup language which is meant for the purpose of presenting structured documents over the web. XML, although similar in few aspects to HTML, differs from the fixed and defined nature of  HTML tag sets.

In HTML, tag semantics are standard and well defined and therefore can’t be customized at all. For instance, a <body> tag has a defined meaning and the tag <product.name> has got no meaning.

In case of XML, tags can be customized as per the nature and information stored in the document. In simpler words, XML is meant to encode text and data, to make it simpler and more interpretable to humans as well as machines/applications.

Where does it belong to

XML is an application profile of Standard Generalised Markup Language(SGML). To give a brief-up overview about SGML, it  is a prevalent web standard for the purpose of maintaining repositories of structured documents. SGML is not preferred for serving documents over the web due to inefficiency issues and therefore , XML, being a subset of SGML, is used for this purpose.

Why XML

We already have HTML (and even HTML5) to create webpages for publishing information on web so one might wonder if XML is a replacement of HTML or otherwise. It is important to understand here that XML was created so as to serve richly structured documents over the internet. The existing options, namely HTML and SGML, due to customization and efficiency issues, were not practical for this purpose.

An example

Below is a basic example of an encoded XML document, which is interpretable because of the use of customized tags.

<?xml version=”1.0″?>

<notice>

<to>Peter</to>

<from>XYZ Ltd</from>

<heading>Violation of official policy</heading>

<body>You are required to produce all the official documents to CEO by tomorrow</body>

</note>

For detailed insight into XML specifications, we recommend looking at this documentation here.