Notebook Management And Recovery

We take you through the various notebook recovery and management tools available with different brands.

ACCESS IBM



IBM provides one of the widest range of notebook-management tools.

Profile settings in Toshiba's ConfigFree app makes  switching between networks a breeze

While most notebooks come with system-restore CD-ROMs that lets you restore your system to factory default settings, IBM comes with a feature called Access IBM. It has one of the most feature-rich utility packages of the lot. Access IBM does away with CD-ROMs, instead it stores all configurations on the hard-disk partition, which cannot be deleted. To recover your system or to run diagnostics of your system, just press the blue Access IBM button while the system is booting, and you will be taken to the Access IBM program. From here you can restore the system to its default settings or check the hardware for any errors. But, what if your hard disk crashes? Once in Windows, Access IBM offers many useful utilities such as power-management features, battery maximize, a system configuration utility and keyboard customizer utility. These programs come in very handy while using the notebook. 






IBM Rapid Restore PC



One of the best recovery options available with any laptops, this lets you restore your notebook to a particular state, which you saved before hand. This creates an image of the OS, and other files on a protected portion of the HDD. If your system crashes, you can restore them from this protected portion at the click of a button. But this takes up a lot of HDD space. Also backups are time consuming.






IBM EasyEject



External USB, FireWire or PCMCIA devices are hot swappable. That is, they can be inserted and taken out from the notebook while it is still running. But, to safely remove such an external device you have to go through a couple of steps in Win XP or 2000. IBM notebooks come with a utility called EasyEject, which makes safe removal of external devices a one-step procedure. To configure it, start the EasyEject utility from the Access IBM sub menu under Program files.






Keyboard Optimizer



IBM R40e does not come with a Windows key, but that doesn't mean you cannot get a single key Windows functionality. Just use the Keyboard Optimizer and set any of the shift, Alt or Ctrl keys as the Windows key.






Battery Calibration



To maximize a notebook's battery performance, there are battery-calibration tools. This tool checks the battery's performance by discharging it fully and then optimizes its performance accordingly. Several notebooks, such as the Samsung X10 and CompaqX1000, provide this option in the BIOS, while some provide it through a software utility. The calibration process is a time consuming process as it discharges your entire battery, so run it when you have the time.






Access Connections



If you have to move between different offices, connecting to different networks with different gateways, IP addresses, etc can be quite a hassle. Access connections let you set up multiple network configurations, and switch between them, without having to re do them again and again or rebooting.






THE TOSHIBA CONSOLE



Toshiba notebooks not only offer out of the box recovery options, but also provide a console that anyone can use easily.

It has tools for power management, hot key assignment, mouse configuration, hardware management and ConfigFree, a network management and profiling utility. There is also a utility docking panel on the desktop.

ConfigFree is a very useful network utility. If you have two offices and you even work from home, then you would realize how cumbersome it could be to change the network configuration when you switch networks. ConfigFree sorts this out for you while adding many other features. 

It is divided into three modules: Connectivity Doctor, Device settings and Profile settings. Connectivity Doctor detects problems that you may be facing for accessing the network and displays the cause of the problem too. The Device settings tab, on the other hand, helps you enable and disable network devices on the system. Profile setting is the most useful, as it makes switching networks a breeze. You can make distinct profiles for multiple networks that take away changing the TCP/IP, device and Internet settings. 

The HWSetup also packs in notebook-management features. Some of these are normally available only by accessing the BIOS, but this utility brings them on the desktop-for example, changing the boot order of the notebook. Besides this, it gives additional options for system password, USB, Keyboard, CPU etc.

The docking panel on the desktop gives various CD-writing options on the desktop itself. You can write audio, data or copy CDs using this utility. The drawback, though, is that music cannot be encoded from MP3s, it needs to be either be in WAV or WMA format to be encoded.

APPLE POWER



The Powerbook and the ibook come with standard power and network-management tools. However, Apple's Powerbook has something extra to offer. It boasts of an ambient light sensor that reduces the brightness of the screen according to the light in the atmosphere, and switches on the lights on the keyboard automatically. A great feature to have if you work on long flights or in the dark. 






DELL DIAGNOSTICS



Dell has got one of the most extensive diagnostic tools of all the notebooks. Dell notebooks come with two CDs, one is the recovery CD and the other is the drivers and utilities CD. The recovery CD helps restore the notebook to its original state by installing Win XP. The utility CD, when opened under Windows, shows all drivers and utilities that need to be installed. When you boot from this CD, it starts the system diagnostic utility. You can run various tests once it starts. The options include Express test, Extended test, Custom test and Symptom tree. The Express test runs a quick test on the devices in the system, while the Extended tests does a thorough test. You can even run specific tests using the Custom test option. The last option is the most useful in most cases. It lists the various problems that you can face with the system. You can choose the appropriate one from this list, and the tests relevant to the problem will be run. The results of these tests can be passed on to Dell for further technical support. 

The diagnostics include tests for the processor, battery, system memory, video and network, among other things. 

CyberMedia Labs