Finding a BUG in an APP is very important thing, Right? If you are a software tester or a QA engineer then you must be thinking every minute to find a bug in an application. And you should be!

I think finding a blocker bug like any system crash is often rewarding! No I don’t think like that. You should try to find out the bugs that are most difficult to find and those always misleads users.

Finding such a subtle bugs is most challenging work and it gives you satisfaction of your work.

For Instance, “There was a cron (cron is a automated script that runs after specified time or condition) to process the log files and update the database. Such multiple crons are running on log files and DB to synchronize the total data. There were two crons running on one table with some time intervals. There was a column in table that was getting overwritten by other cron making some data inconsistency. It will take a long time to figure out the problem due to the vast DB processes and different crons.”

Point is try to find out the hidden bugs in the system that might occur for special conditions and causes strong impact on the system. You can find such a bugs with some tips and tricks.

So what are those tips:

1. Understand the whole application or module in depth before starting the testing.

2. Prepare good test cases before start to testing. I mean give stress on the functional test cases which includes major risk of the application.

3. Create a sufficient test data before tests, this data set include the test case conditions and also the database records if you are going to test DB related application.

4. Perform repeated tests with different test environment.

5. Try to find out the result pattern and then compare your results with those patterns.

6. When you think that you have completed most of the test conditions and when you think you are tired somewhat then do some monkey testing.

7. Use your previous test data pattern to analyse the current set of tests.

8. Try some standard test cases for which you found the bugs in some different application. Like if you are testing input text box try inserting some html tags as the inputs and see the output on display page.

9. Last and the best trick is try very hard to find the bug .  As if you are testing only to break the application!

Follow these Tips and DeBUG your app…

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Protect your Firefox passwords

When we are using internet we have to deal a several logins and passwords and some sites impose some weird usernames and passwords that are impossible to remember.here comes our favourite browser The biggest Mozilla FireFox to store all of our passwords so when you try to access your facebook ,gmail , twitter … accounts you dont have to write every time your informations

this is really great but there is a little problem in this , the problem is that every person using your computer can go and see all of your stored passwords with just a few mouse clicks. hopefully firefox have a feature that can help us to make this private and dont lete anyone except us to see those passwords.

so how you are supposed to Protect your Firefox passwords ,the answer is so simple “set a master password”

The steps to Protect your Firefox passwords are :

1. Start Mozilla Firefox
2. Click to Tools
3. Select Option
4. Go to Security Tab
5. Check Use a Master Password
6. Specify your password and VOILA it’s done

before finishing i will send you to see this steps by video this will help all of those that are not making it by following the steps click here to see the video

In abouttricks.com you can find all sort of tech news related to Data Recovery,Hard Drive Failure , software reviews,firefox,Computer Support,Laptop Computer,PC tips,etc

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What is the Blogger Data API?

Today we are here to talk about the Google API or to be more specific the Blogger Data API, this API allows client applications to view and update Blogger content in the form of Google Data API feeds this mean that this API let you do all of the CRUD (create read update delete) operation on your blogs without having to access to your blog with the Web Browser by implementing this API in a programing language .NET or Java or even use it in a web Interface with PHP

If you are a developer you can create an app that describe your needs and to do it you should take a look on the Blogger API website ,else you should try to use some existing tools like the Autoblog samurai or even use the demos application provided with the API

Before finish this post I would like to give you some links to learn how to use this API or find a product using it to handle your blogs without wasting a lot of time on some steps that you can avoid

Blogger API official website here

The Auto blog Samurai official website here

In the future I will create some posts on how to create application with this API and other APIs and I will keep you updated, so stay tuned

In abouttricks.com you can find all sort of tech news related to Webhosting, Digital Camera,Data Recovery , software reviews,Computer Support,Laptop Computer,PC tips,etc

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Backups are the single most effective method of preventing data loss on computer systems. The following article will list the 10 best Windows backup software programs.

Cobian Backup is a free for personal use backup software that supports both local and remote backups. The software is constantly under development by the developer which means that features are included regularly. Some of the key features include full, differential and incremental backups, file compression including the popular 7-zip format plus strong encryption for data security.
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An Open source backup solution supporting incremental backups, one-click restore options, task scheduling and email notifications. Some advanced options include ssh tunneling and connecting to rsync daemons.

It makes use of a server client system. One or multiple backup servers can be created on computers running Windows by installing the server version on these computer systems. The client will be installed on the any computer system where files should be backed up regularly.

The backup software supports authentication, scheduling and connection by IP or hostname.
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Cucku Backup calls itself social backup. It provides local backups but also backups on friend?s computers. It supports complete and continuous backups and can automate the remote backup process to take that of the user?s shoulders. All files that are backed up use encryption algorithms to ensure data safety and integrity so that the backup partners cannot see the filenames nor contents of the files that are send over to their computer systems.
It works best in computer networks but can also work over the Internet if enough time or upload bandwidth is provided.

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Backup Maker provides extensive backup capabilities. It comes with a standard and expert mode to suite both the needs of experienced and inexperienced users. The software supports full and partial backups, local and remote backups, selection of a backup execution interval and execution on certain events like USB detection or start and shutdown.

All in all an excellent software program to backup files on the Windows operating system.
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Powerful backup software that supports multi-versioning, backups to local and remote locations, file compression and encryption.
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SyncToy is offered by Microsoft as a free download
for the Windows operating system. It can be used to easily synchronize data between computer systems. The program offers five different synchronization options that the user can choose from including a preview option before starting the process.
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Mozy is an online backup solution that offers backup clients for Windows NT based systems and Mac OS X. Every registered user receives 2 Gigabytes of free space with the option to sign up for a paid account for currently $4.95 that offers unlimited backup space. Several pre-configured backup sets are populated after installation including bookmarks, documents and multimedia files. These can but do not have to be backed up. Expert mode provides access to the full file system to pick files or folders to backup directly.
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A backup for the advanced user that provides great file filtering options. It comes with the usual set of features including local and remote backup creation (including SFTP), file compression and encryption, status reports and log file generation.
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Another software that has been primarily designed for file synchronization that is also supporting file backups to a local drive, over a local network or the Internet. It works on a per directory basis and can be installed on as many computer systems as the user desires. The software comes as a setup or portable version.
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Another free backup solution for Laptop Computer users. Comodo Backup can backup files and folders on a local computer system to other drives, network locations, ftp servers and removable media. Backups can be scheduled and notifications can be send to inform about completed backup jobs. Other features include compressing backups, data recovery options, support of multi-session backups and incremental backups.
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DriveImage XML is more a drive imaging software than a backup program. It can however be used to backup a full hard drive or partition to another drive. It uses the Volume Shadow Service to create exact backups during runtime. It is afterwards possible to restore the backup either from within Windows or with the use of a boot disk.
Download Now

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Top 10 FREE Data Recovery Software

In my experience, accidentally deleting important files or forgetting to backup important files before formatting are quite often. At first when i lost my data in a External Hard-drive crash i didn’t know how to restore my data. But recently i came across these bunch of free softwares which can restore data from crashed HDD and flash drives.

STEPS To follow

When recovering data from accidental deletion, there are some rules to follow.
1. Stop using the hard drive you want to recover as main hard drive (Windows has disk and registry activity in background. Don’t believe? Run RegMon, FileMon and DiskMon)
2. Do not install the data recovery software on the hard drive that you want to recover.
3. Do not save the recovered files on the hard drive that you’re recovering.

Do take note that these are my top 10 picks for FREE data recovery software. Number 1 does not mean it is better than number 5.

PC INSPECTOR File Recovery

PC INSPECTOR File Recovery is a data recovery program that supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems. Finds partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged. Recovers files with the original time and date stamp. Supports the saving of recovered files on network drives. Recovers files, even when a header entry is no longer available. Setup file is 5.83 MB in size.
[ Download PC INSPECTOR File Recovery ]

Recuva

From the maker of the popular CCleaner. Recuva (pronounced “recover”) is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses! Setup is only 646 KB in size and it’s portable.
[ Download Recuva ]

Panda Recovery

Pandora Recovery actually recovers files permanently removed from Recycle Bin, files originally deleted using Shift + Delete keys bypassing Recycle Bin and files deleted from DOS prompt. Pandora Recovery allows you to find and recover recoverable deleted files from NTFS-formatted volumes, regardless of their type – you can recover pictures, songs, movies or documents. Setup file is 2.12 MB in size.
[ Download Panda Recovery ]

TOKIWA DataRecovery

DataRecovery is freeware and written by TOKIWA to undelete accidentally deleted files even from recycle bin. It supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS undeletion. Even in both NTFS compressed files and EFS encrypted files. Zip file is only 198 KB in size, no installation required and it’s portable.

[ Download TOKIWA DataRecovery ]

SoftPerfect File Recovery

SoftPerfect File Recovery is a free and useful tool to restore accidentally deleted files from hard and floppy disks, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media. It supports the popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption. If your important files disappeared and you can’t find them in the recycle bin, try this software product and get the files back to life. Easy to use, no installation is required. Program is only 247 KB in size.

[ Download SoftPerfect File Recovery ]

Undelete Plus

Undelete Plus is a quick and effective way to restore accidentally deleted files. It can also recover files that have been emptied from the Recycle Bin, permanantly deleted files within Windows using the Shift + Delete, and files that have been deleted from within a Command Prompt. Undelete Plus works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32,NTFS/NTFS5 and image recovery from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards. Program is only 583 KB in size and requires no installation. Portable.

[ Download Undelete Plus ]

FreeUndelete

FreeUndelete is data recovery program for deleted files. In case of accidental deletion of files on a NTFS (used by default in Windows XP, 2000 and NT), FAT32 or FAT16 file systems FreeUndelete is the utility to help. Setup file is 866 KB in size.

[ Download FreeUndelete ]

ADRC Data Recovery Software Tools

ADRC Data Recovery Software Tools contains a collection of DIY data recovery tools that supports a wide variety of drives and file systems. The software incorporates extremely simple GUI with novice users in mind. The software zooms in to do only critical recovery functions with minimum complexity so one could recover the data easily. It gives you full control to undelete files, disk image back up, restore a backup image, copy files from hard disk with bad sectors, disk cloning, backup, edit and restore your boot parameters. No installation required, portable and program is only 132 KB in size.

[ Download ADRC Data Recovery Software Tools ]

Glary Undelete

Glary Undelete is a free and easy-to-use yet powerful file undelete solution for FAT and NTFS file systems. It will bring back files emptied from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down. It will even recover files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses! Glary Undelete works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32,NTFS/NTFS5 and image recovery from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards. Setup is 1.17 MB in size.

[ Download Glary Undelete ]

Avira UnErase Personal

Avira UnErase recovers data that have been deleted from the hard drive – either accidentally or as a result of a virus infection, an uninstaller or defective software. The danger of important data being lost forever is averted with Avira UnErase. Setup file is 402 KB in size.

[ Download Avira UnErase Personal ]

There you go, the top 10 free data recovery software. That should help you get your data back.

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It’s critical to find issues during the test phase, as finding them later when a system has been deployed can be very costly. Bringing a ‘live’ system down for maintenance can cause widespread disruption and affect productivity, costing thousands in ‘downtime’.

How can you be sure you’ve found all the issues during testing?

Well, firstly it’s impossible to fully test any system so we need to look at minimising the risk by trying to cover as much testing as possible in the time and budget available. By using an appropriate test tool our testing coverage can be good enough to isolate many major issues before going ‘live’, which can save thousands in rectification costs.

The effectiveness in spotting the major issues during testing has a substantial reliance on the test tool used. Unfortunately not all test tools are the same and can very considerably in their effectiveness, which can lead to some issues being undetected, leading to substantial costs in rectification later on.

1. Enterprise Class

There is no point in designing and building an enterprise system and then using a non enterprise test tool, to test it with. I’ve seen many systems worth millions being tested by test tools which have been cobbled together by a bunch of developers, designers or system builders, with little regard to fundamentals of testing.

It’s like building a jet engine to the highest quality, with stringent processes, top notch components and incredible tolerances and then using a measuring tape (which measures only in centimetres and inches) to validate the correctness of the measurements.

Sounds crazy I know but this isn’t far off the mark with how Citrix fronted environments are being tested.

2. End to End Capability

From experience most of the serious problems I’ve encountered in the larger organisations have not been with Citrix servers but with the associated infrastructure components. Such as poor configuration of databases, networks, directory services and so on. These also need to be tested and therefore the test tool needs an end to end capability.

Smaller businesses can have serious issues with their Citrix infrastructure. This is down to limited Citrix skills at hand and/or using substandard technical consultants who don’t understand what’s under hood.

3. Modular

The way the test tool is designed to run is very important. Design encompasses not only whether the test tool has a modular component structure but how these components work together.

Running a single test tool application on a Citrix server, which runs the test scripts, collects data and then alerts when it’s finished, isn’t an ideal test tool design.

Ideally the test tool must have a controller component, scripting component, generator component, data capture component and analysis component.

4. Non Intrusive

It’s important to use a test tool which doesn’t run any of it’s components actually on the Citrix servers, as the overhead produced can taint the quality of results produced.

Having sessions initiated on the Citrix server side, can add several megabytes per test user and additional CPU processing. Multiply this by 50, 60, 70 test users and this needless hit on the Citrix server resources, will affect the quality of test data produced.

It’s like testing the acceleration time of a Ferrari and having extra passengers occupying the seats as well as the test driver in the test. This won’t give an accurate reading of the acceleration capabilities of the Ferrari.

5. Test Language

Over simplifying things means it’s difficult to work out what’s happening under the hood and I’ve found tools which haven’t a scripting language as such, don’t provide the granularity of control needed to test and analyse accurately. They use a black box approach of using simple controls and wizards to create tests.

I ideally look for a test tool which has it’s own language specifically designed for testing, this reassures me of the pedigree of the test tool I’m evaluating. Any test tool with it’s own language which has evolved to become a testing language in it’s own right, scores mega points with me.

6. Scalability

Enterprise organisations can have multiple test sites and these need to be factored in during a test. Moving test apparatus from one site to another site to do the next set of tests and then moving them back, isn’t practical. Test apparatus doesn’t just involve test equipment but the people involved in developing, running and managing the tests.

A scalable test tool architecture needs to be able to accommodate horizontal scaling of test sessions, so additional test sessions can be added to share the work load at any particular site.

7. Usability

When I talk about usability, I’m not referring to how easy a test tool is to use. This doesn’t come into the equation, as a professional tester will be able to use the test tools they’re experienced with. The consideration to evaluate a test tool for the sole purposes of it being suitable for non test professionals such as Citrix designers and implementers is not recommended either.

What I’m more concerned about is whether the test tool can do what is expected. I say this, thinking back to a series of tests I did with applications delivered via Softricity’s Softgrid (pre-Microsoft).

Where the majority of the test tools evaluated, failed to recognise the applications being launched and therefore none of the test scripts ran. These test tools couldn’t see inside the Softgrid sandbox and therefore the applications running inside.

8. Transaction Processing

Testing isn’t just about metrics, that is relying solely on performance monitoring graphs to see how well the infrastructure handles it’s resources. Application usability is the key and by measuring whether an application is still usable when tested is essential.

The usability measurement for applications can be achieved by defining transactions. A good test tool will have a transaction facility built into their scripting language, so there will be no need to reinvent the wheel, to monitor transactions.

9. Scenarios

A good test tool will cater for the grouping of different test scripts, so different scenarios can be run and managed easily. Each scenario can include a series of events and a number of test users to be associated with these events. This strategy allows the testing to simulate more closely with what is expected in a ‘live’ environment.

10. Error Handling

To make it easier to find errors in test scripts, a test tool should have excellent debug facilities, which allow the code to be checked.

11. Scheduling

Logging on and off Citrix servers places a high demand on resources such as CPU. Additionally using products like SoftGrid, places a further burden on resources at logon, as the SoftGrid services authenticate and update application access when the user logs on. This can if not assessed create a dangerous situation where Citrix servers can temporarily stop responding if they become overloaded.

From previous experiences I’ve come across situations where additional servers were needed to bolster a farm, as during testing, we found the farm under test couldn’t cope with the expected user logon loads. At other times, I found the servers to be underpowered, so these servers were required to be either replaced or upgraded to meet the logon demands.

To be able to test the implications of adding users to the Citrix server, the test tool needs to have the capability to schedule user logons onto servers.

12. Spike Testing

Sometimes certain steps in a program may require a large degree of processing power, memory or hard disk utilisation, which needs to be assessed.

A test tool creates spike testing by allowing test user scripts to reach a pre-defined point in the test script and then waits for all other test users to reach the same point. Once all the test users have reached the pre-defined point in the test script, only then does the rest of the test script run. This allows a coordinated run of a particular part of the script, so test users could run the spell checker if it’s the next piece of code in the script.

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Here what the developer saying about Giveaway

Data Recovery Wizard is an excellent data recovery software to recover deleted, formatted data or lost files from lost partitions. However, we still need your advice to improve it in next upgrade. And this giveaway is to collect feedback or suggestions from users. Please send your feedback to feedback@easeus.com. EASEUS thanks you for your comments and feedback.

Features:

• Recover deleted or lost files emptied from the Recycle Bin.
• File recovery after accidental format, even if you have reinstalled Windows.
• Get data back from RAW hard drives.
• Get back files after a partitioning error.
• Disk recovery after a hard disk crash.
• Recover office documents, photos, images, videos, music, email, etc.
• Support FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS/NTFS5 file systems.
• Recover from hard drive, USB drive, memory card, memory stick, camera card, Zip, floppy disk or other storage media.
• Bootable media based on WinPE.
• High quality of file recovery.

How to know this offer is still available?

Visit the EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard  promotional page in the right side you will see the screen shot of the EASEUS Data Recover Wizard below to that screen shot you will get the information about whether the offer is still available or not.

Download Link: Promotional Page | Direct Download

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Downloading the 110+ MB again and again is really painful job for dial up user or slow connection user. It is always better to keep the offline installer for feature use. Today we are providing the windows live writer standalone installer. This standalone installer is for  “English” users only and not for other language.

Windows Live Writer Standalone Installer 2009 Includes:

1. Messenger
2. Mail
3. Writer
4. Photo Gallery
5. Movie Maker
6. Family Safety
7. Toolbar

Download Windows Live Writer Offline Installer 2009

The above download link is only for English language users. If you are from other language and you need direct download link, then provide your language information in comment we will try to provide you the direct link for that language too.

We will try to provide the standalone/offline installer for Windows Live Writer 2010 also as soon as they launch, so don’t forget to subscribe to our blog.

Download Link: Windows Live Writer Standalone Installer 2009

Get latest and various methods for data recovery from external hard drive.

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About K9 Web protection:

K9 web protection is a product of Blue Coat. Blue coat uses unique web filtering technology for filtering the Internet. It divides the content into different categories and stores in their database. These categories are stored in the master Blue Coat database, through which the maintain and update more than 15 million ratings of websites and domains. These database are updated frequently based on the content of the website or domain. These different categories allow you to select which category website must block visiting or allow visiting.

How to use Blue Coat K9 web protection?

1. Firstly download K9 web protection software
2. During installation it will ask License key, get yours free license key from here and install k9 software.

Configuring K9 Web Protection:

After installation of K9 web protection run that application it will open in your default browser. In that select  setup option or setup tab,  you will see “Web Categories to Block” option below to that select Custom option and check the categories which you would like to block or filter the website and click Save option.  If any one trying to visit the website which are currently blocked, then it will display the “Category Blocked” by k9 software. If you wish to visit that site then you  need the password, which is provided during configuration.

pros:

• Software is very small in size (620 kb).
• No need to update database.
• Easy to use and it’s free.
• It won’t take much cpu memory.
• It records the Internet Activity (records the URL that we visited and stored in appropriate categories ).
• Password protected application.
• We can also provide the website url for exception.
• We can restrict based on time too using Time Restrictions option.
• It won’t  slow down our Internet speed.

Cons:

• Some times it blocks good content too.

Screen Shot:

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Supported Messenger:

• MSN Messenger
• Windows Messenger (In Windows XP)
• Windows Live Messenger (In Windows XP/Vista/7)
• Yahoo Messenger (Versions 5.x and 6.x)
• Google Talk
• ICQ Lite 4.x/5.x/2003
• AOL Instant Messenger v4.6 or below, AIM 6.x, and AIM Pro.
• Trillian
• Trillian Astra
• Miranda
• GAIM/Pidgin
• MySpace IM
• PaltalkScene
• Digsby

How this MessenPass works ?

Every time you Sign-In in the messenger (only supported messenger as listed above) by checking the Remember Me option or something similar, the messenger the messenger stores password in our local disk. But the stored password in Encrypted which we cannot able to see our password directly. This Encryption method may vary on one messenger to another.

This MessenPass can recover any stored password in our local disk. It will automatically decrypts all the messenger supported and shows the password with username and which messenger client used to Log-in.

Using MessenPass:

This MessenPass is designed in a way that all users can easily understand the working of MessenPass.This tool is available in two formats one is install and uninstall support and another is simply standalone executable file.

As soon as you run the application it automatically start scanning your system and if any messenger password stored in your system then it will displays the username, software and password.

We can also save the displayed username, password in the *.txt format, it saved in a cool manner. Have a look on the below image how it is saved in notepad.

Antivirus detect it has virus ?

Some of your antivirus may detect it has virus, but don’t worry about it because it is fully clean. Some of the antivirus detect these type of tools has virus those are only a false alert. Here the developer have written a brief post on this tool in his blog you there about false alert there.

Screen Shot:

Download Link: MessenPass | From Author

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