As a test tool, one can use the information to create issue reports, detailing the information that was not uninstalled.

Image 1 - Revo Uninstaller Portable

For example uninstalling the application Yahoo! Toolbar has 246 leftover Registry items and 6 leftover files and folders. This potentially could lead to issues when installing different versions of the application on the same machine.

Image 2 - Leftover Registry items in Revo Uninstaller

Image 3 - Leftover files & folders in Revo Uninstaller

My Options for Revo Uninstaller

1. The default options are adequately set, therefore I have not changed these.
2. I have not required to use the System Restore Point after using Revo Uninstaller, however I would always make sure the “Make a System Restore Point before uninstalling” option is checked.
3. When selecting an uninstall mode, I mostly use the Moderate option.

Image 4

Cool Features

1. Revo Uninstaller is portable, therefore no installation required and can be run from a USB drive (always a cool feature). Unzip the revouninstaller.zip to your USB drive and run the revouninstaller.exe file.
2. Command list available by right-clicking the application list provides a number of useful commends, in particular Install Location and Open Registry Key… .
3. The Hunter Mode, as described in the application “A primary feature of Revo Uninstaller is Hunter mode. This mode gives you the flexibility to uninstall, stop, delete or disable from auto-starting with just one click” as on the application.

Image 5 - Commands in Revo Uninstaller

Wanted Feature

1. Ability to export data to text files (for easier creation of issues report) for the following areas: List of applications installed, tree list of found leftover Registry items and the list of found leftover files and folders. [Maybe an AutoHotKey script could be an initial work around]

Homepage: Revo Uninstaller Download: freeware, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista (32 bit only) Download: From Softpedia

Solution

This solution allows information leftover from uninstalling applications, to be removed and theses details used in a issue report for testing.

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Pismo File Mount is the graphical user interface for the command line application pfm.exe.

Mounting and unmounting an ISO file via pfm.exe:
>pfm mount “Test Tools.iso”
>pfm unmount “Test Tools.iso”

Using Windows Explorer

Mounting a ISO file as a Virtual Folder

Right-click the ISO image, select Quick mount

Image 1 - Pismo File Mount: Quick Mount

Mounting a ISO file as a Mapped Drive

Right-click the ISO image, select Mount…
From Map drive drop down select a drive, click Mount

Image 2 - Pismo File Mount: Mount Options

Unmounting

Right-click the virtual folder or mapped drive in Windows Explorer, select Unmount

Using Mount Control 

Once a file has been mounted an icon appears in the system tray.

Double-click the icon to open Mount Control, all mounted files are listed.
For example Image 3 has three mounted files:

1. A private folder
2. An ISO image file
3. A ZIP file within the mounted ISO image file

Image 3 - Pismo File Mount: Mounted file list

Mount Control can also be opened from the Start Menu.
Start Menu > All Programs > Pismo File Mount Audit Package > Mount Control

Mounting files

Menu File > Mount
Select file, click Open
Click Mount

Unmounting from list

Select file to unmount from list
Menu File > Unmount

Cool Features

1. Files within a mounted file can be mounted.
2. Private folders (PFO) can be compressed & encrypted and are independent of the system and user login, therefore can be copied between systems. Unfortunately Pismo File Mount is required to be installed on the other system for the private folder to be accessible.

In short, a MD5 Checksum is useful for identifying a corrupt, incorrect or missing file.

Using fsum to create and verify a MD5 Checksum

fsum.exe is a command line application and therefore ideally used with batch files.

Creating a MD5 Checksum with fsum.
>fsum -d”d:\verification” -jnc -jm -r *.* >”d:\verification\CHECKSUM.md5″

Image 1 - The Checksum.md5 content (opened in Notepad)

I have changed two files to show the status of warning and errors. The document “Verification Testing.doc” has been deleted and the file content of “ReadMe.txt” has been changed.

Verify a MD5 Checksum with fsum.
>fsum -d”d:\verification” -c CHECKSUM.md5

fsum identifies a warning and an error.

Image 2 - fsum output

Options used:
-d <directory>, set working directory
-jnc, suppress comments
-jm, use MD5 format
-r, recurse subdirectories
-c, check sum against given list

Using Fsum Frontend to verify a MD5 Checksum.

Fsum Frontend also identifies a warning and an error.

Image 4 - The Fsum Frontend interface

Fsum Frontend can calculate 4 different checksums (SFV, MD5, SHA1 and SHA2), and it also allows 96 different hashes for files and text strings.

Using Md5Checker to verify a MD5 Checksum.

Md5Checker is my preferred MD5 Checksum interface, however Fsum Frontend has been included as it has a large set of supported checksums and hashes.

Md5Checker also identifies a warning and an error.

Image 3 - The Md5Checker interface

Md5Checker can calculate a MD5 checksum and a MD5 hash for a text string.

My Options for Md5Checker

Menu Tools > Options or the Options button on the main window.

• On Add tab, set include for Add folders to “*”. This ensures all files are included in checksum.
• On Save tab, ensure Always save full path is unchecked. This ensures the checksum path names are relative to the top folder.
• On Advanced tab, check Store last folder used. This allows the last folder location to be used for Add/Open.

Cool Features

1. Fsum, Fsum Frontend and Md5Checker are all portable applications.
2. Md5Checker allows association with the MD5 extenion, having a shell content menu and being able to include in the Send To menu.
3. Md5Checker has real-time summary results icons information; as it progresses the checksum for each file the information is updated, Image 5.
4. The item list can be filtered via the menu View or by clicking on the summary results icons, Image 5.

Image 5 - Summary results icons

Wanted Features

1. Md5Checker does not have a Copy Path button on the main windows, only available via the menu Edit > Copy Paths.
2. Md5Checker does not have a Copy All feature, to copy data from all columns.

fsum:
Homepage  & Download: SlavaSoft Download: From Softpedia

Fsum Frontend:
Homepage  & Download: Fsum Frontend Download: From Softpedia

Md5Checker:
Homepage  & Download: Md5Checker Download: From Softpedia

Solution

This solution allows Md5 Checksums to be created for a set of files and then verify at a later date to ensure file integrity.

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Visual Studio Team System 2008 has been designed with a number of inbuilt test tools. One of these test tools is for defect management. Work items are used in Team System to manage work.

A bug work item has four states:

• New -Test Engineers or Software Engineers are raising a bug.
• Active - Software Engineer is investigating bug and potentially fixing the bug.
• Resolved - Test Engineers is retesting bug (the Engineer should closes or re-actives the bug they opened).
• Closed – Bug is closed, however it is available to be re-activated if bug reappears.

Also the reason field, complements the state field, by indicating why a bug is in a given state.

Image 1 - The states & reasons of bug work item

I personally prefer the term “Issue”, instead of “Bug” or “Defect”.

The bug work item has five main parts:

• Title - Title of the bug report; one line summary.
• Classification - Detailing the  software area the bug was found and its  iteration.
• Status – Details the current state of the bug.
• Editor – History of all the bug’s editors for a given state.
• Description tabs - Addition information to support with the bug report.

Image 2 - Defect Management - Bug Report

My Configuration for Team System

Team System has a very powerful query tool; this tool allows user defined queries for querying any work item details. I have a number of queries defined, both individual and global.

Image 3 - My Query

Cool Features

1. Software Engineers can check in change sets against an individual bug, and at the same time the bug’s state is changed to Resolved.
2. TeamPlain: This web interface to Team System allows creation and execution of queries and to produce query outputs in the form of Microsoft Excel files and PDF files.

Wanted Feature

1. A Team System configuration tool, that easily configures the Team System’s graphical user interface.
   For example, the configuration tool would allow the simple adding of the “Known Issue” field and setting of mandatory fields to the bug report form; therefore not having to learn what configuration files require updating.

Homepage:  MSDN

Download Trial: Microsoft Visual Studio Team System

Solution

This solution allows defect management to be integrated with Visual Studio Team System environment.

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As a test tool, one can capture test evidence of the application’s printable documents, in the form of a PDF.

Image 1 - Output optimized screen PDF customization for each time you print

My Preferences for PrimoPDF

The Author field is set to “Chris R Saunders”, this means I can identify the PDFs I have created at a later date. Access document properties when printing with PrimoPDF.
Select Change for Document Properties.

Image 2 - Setting document properties

The document properties are viewable within Adobe Reader 9.
Menu File > Properties…

Note: Adobe Reader 9 incorrectly sets the default Units to inches, when the regional settings are English (Unit Kingdom). Setting the units within Adobe Reader 9.
Menu Edit > Preferences… select categories: Units and change the Page Units from “Inches” to “Millimeters”.

Image 3 - PDF document properties within Adobe Reader 9

The PDF document properties are also viewable from Windows Explorer, this is only available for PDFs with no security password. In Windows Explorer right-click the PDF file.
Select Properties, select PDF tab.

Image 4 - Document properties details via Windows Explorer

Cool Features

1. The ability to append PDF output to an existing PDF (this does not work for PDFs with password security).
   When an existing PDF is selected the Save PDF As… dialog appears to determine if Overwrite existing file? or Append existing file? is required.
   

   Image 5 - Save PDF as...

2. PDF security for password and permissions can be set when creating the PDF. (Access password security when printing with PrimoPDF.
   Select Change for PDF Security
   

   Image 6 - Setting password security

Image 1 - Source & output files are defined on the same screen

A PDF’s password and individual PDF page details can be defined for each input PDF. This feature is accessible from the Details button on the Files tab. For example the order of the pages can be reversed; “Pages: 4,3,2,1″, this would take the first four pages and reverse their order.

Image 2 - Input PDF's password and individual input pages can be defined

• Metadata can be capture from an existing PDF file or manually entered.
• Bookmarks can be added for the output PDF (see below under Cool Features).
• Security can be set on the output PDF.
• Footer information can be added onto the output PDF (I do not use this feature).
• Output file can be limited to a page counts; these output PDFs are saved with3 digit extension “_001″.
• Process summary information is display after the output PDF is created.

Image 3 - Details of how BeCyPDFAsm processed your ouput PDF

My Configuration for BeCyPDFAsm

 Only configuration required is to update the BeCyPDFAsm.ini with the location of the command-line tool mbtPdfAsm.

Cool Features

1. Drag and drop PDFs into application, then reorder the PDF list by dragging and dropping.
2. Specifying individual PDF input pages.
3. Creating PDF Bookmarks with zoom.

Image 4 - Bookmark titles can be entered for the output PDF, including the zoom

Wanted Features

1. The PDF’s password and individual PDF page details to be integrated on the PDF list (Files tab).
2. Rotate pages on a pre-page bases, not on the whole PDF output.

Homepage: BeCyHome Download: Free, Windows All
Download: From Softpedia Download: mbtPdfAsm

Post inspired by Split Or Merge PDF Files

Solution

This solution allows merging of full and selected pages of PDFs to an output PDF.

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Image 1 - Rest break in Workrave

Image 2 - Daily limit for Workrave

My Preferences for Workrave

 For all break types, the defaults have been changed as follows:

• Time between breaks and postpone time are slightly higher.
• Break duration are a little shorter.

Image 3 - Preferences, Micro-break in Workrave

Image 4 - Preferences, Rest break in Workrave

Image 5 - Preferences, Daily Limit in Workrave

Cool Features

1. The statistics screen, shows details of breaks for a given calendar day.
2. Never needed to used the network feature, but the concept seems practical.

Wanted Feature

1. A presentation mode would be great, like suspended mode, however you would enter a presentation time period. At the end of the time period Workrave would prompt the user to go back into Normal mode.

Homepage: Workrave Download: Free, GNU GPL Download: From Softpedia

Solution

This solution ensures time breaks are taken while on the computer. Therefore helping to protect my arms and hands for the future, as it has already done over the last 5 years.

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