TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Cool Tools

Goodbye Acronis True Image

By

I’m switching to Macrium Reflect Free and Clonezilla (free too).
Ditching Acronis has been coming for a while. Over the last couple of years I have increasingly heard from users where Acronis True Image has failed them. Over the last year I’ve encountered issues on numerous occasions. The only thing saving me is I have dozens of full backups. Problems have included freezing during restore and multiple USB device issues.
*note – I only backup and restore offline using bootable media, old habits…
Although I will be using both Macrium Reflect Free and Clonezilla I will be recommending Macrium Reflect Free to the masses. Macrium Reflect Free is fast and easy to use. It provides a way to easily make a Windows PE based bootable CD or USB drive customized to your machine. It contains everything the majority of users could want.
Clonezilla is slower than Macrium but will image any and everything. Having no GUI, non-Geeks my be intimidated. Having said that, if you just follow the on screen instructions you should be fine.
Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition is available. As of this writing I know the linked page says “coming soon” but you end up downloading v7.0.2199.

CCleaner Compromised

By

“For a period of time, the legitimate signed version of CCleaner 5.33 being distributed by Avast also contained a multi-stage malware payload that rode on top of the installation of CCleaner… During the installation of CCleaner 5.33, the 32-bit CCleaner binary that was included also contained a malicious payload that featured a Domain Generation Algorithm (DGA) as well as hardcoded Command and Control (C2) functionality. We confirmed that this malicious version of CCleaner was being hosted directly on CCleaner’s download server as recently as September 11, 2017.”
[Read more…] about CCleaner Compromised

Monday Morning News

By

Classic Shell 4.3.1
I mainly use Classic Shell for Classic Start Menu.
“Here’s what’s new:
– Official support for the Creators Update version of Windows 10
– Added a setting to clear icon cache
– Multiple minor improvements and bugfixes
Download
Release Info

Wise Disk Cleaner 9.52
– Improved cleaning for Windows Winsxs Backup.
– Updated various translations.
Download

New CPUs

AMD Threadripper vs. Intel Core i9: The best CPU for enthusiasts
“We pitted both chips against each other in a grudge match… and each walked away claiming victory. If you’re obsessed with single-threaded performance (including games), back the Core i9 and its higher clock speeds. Threadripper 1950X’s outsized core count punches way higher in multithreaded performance, though, and it’s the people’s champion in everyday tasks and price.”

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X CPU Review
“These High End Desktop (HEDT) systems are certainly not meant for everyone. Many folks simply do not have a need for this many cores/threads and certainly the expense of the CPU itself and subsequent motherboard and RAM are going to put it out of reach for many. That said, if you do actually have the need for a 1950X or 1920X, you can certainly put these work. Content creation professionals and hobbyists are going to love having these CPUs on their desktops.”

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X Review: CPUs on Steroids
“If I were to turn around and say that Threadripper CPUs were not pure gaming CPUs, it would annoy a fair lick of the tech audience. The data is there – it’s not the best gaming CPU… You need a lot to do in order to fill 16 cores to the max, and for those that do, it’s a potential winner. For anyone that needs hardcore throughput such as transcode, decode, rendering such as Blender, Cinema 4D or ray-tracing, it’s a great CPU to have. For multi-GPUs or multi-storage aficionados or the part of the crowd that wants to cram a bunch of six PCIe 3.0 x8 FPGAs into a system, AMD has you covered.”

Etc
Is Alexa spying on us? We’re too busy to care — and we might regret that
No, the Google manifesto isn’t sexist or anti-diversity. It’s science

Start10 Updated

By

Start10 is a Windows 10 start menu alternative. It is $5 and is my preferred start menu replacement.
Start10 v1.55
– Fix for Desktop menu when Fences is not installed.
– Security update.
– Bug fixes
Download