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Review of the Lite-On 8x External Slim DVD Writer

Reviews
Tech

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 8, 2009

So you may ask yourself why you need an external DVD writer? Well, there could be plenty of reasons. You may have a netbook or other laptop that doesn’t have a DVD drive, or you may have a Windows Home Server that doesn’t have a drive. Whatever the reason, having a small external DVD writer available to use can be a great help.

Yes, there are ways around needing an external drive – such as using USB sticks to install software or copy files, but at the end of the day, having a good old fashioned DVD writer is simple, easy and relatively cheap!

A lot of the external DVD writers out there are quite big, in fact, in some cases are the size of a brick, and then they have their own separate power supplies. If you have a netbook for example, the last thing you want is an external drive that is as big, and even heavier than your actual computer!

This is where the Lite-On 8x External Slim DVD Writer comes into play. It really is tiny, weighs next to nothing and is powered directly from the computer, so no extra power supply to lug around.

SPECIFICATION

Interface: High Speed USB 2.0

Data Transfer Rate :

Write

DVD+R : 8X maximum

DVD-R : 8X maximum

DVD+R DL : 6X maximum

DVD-R DL : 6X maximum

DVD-RAM : 5X maximum

CD-R : 24X maximum

Rewrite

DVD+RW : 8X maximum

DVD-RW : 6X maximum

CD-R : 24X maximum

Read
8X maximum

Access time
130ms

Weight : <350g

Buffer Size : 2MB

Colours: White, Black, Red, Blue

BOX CONTENTS

The box contains only four things – the DVD writer, a USB cable and software disk and quick guide.

The quick guide is literally a couple of short lines in connecting the drive and installing the software, but that is really all that you need.

The bundled software is Nero 8 Essentials, so you have everything you need to write DVDs. Considering this is a new device it would have been better to have shipped it with Nero 9, just because that is the latest version. And of course, you don’t have to use Nero 8, you could use whatever you wanted, including the built in writing capabilities of Windows.

A LOOK AT THE DRIVE

The drive itself is very small, and in fact is only a little bigger than a DVD.

The front has a single button to open the drive and the back has a single mini USB connection and a small LED light to show you if the drive is on and usable (blue means ok, flashing red means that there is not enough power to use the drive properly).

Connecting the drive to your computer is simple, just plug one end of the USB cable into your computer and the mini USB end into the drive. If the LED flashes red then you can plug in the additional USB connector into your computer to give additional power.

CONCLUSION

This is a nice drive, and is very simple to use. Because it is connected via USB it is never going to be as fast as an internal drive, but the chances are that you are considering buying something like this because you cant have an internal drive. It is very quiet, which means if you are going to use to watch movies, for example, it helps!

My only real comment on this drive is the USB cable. It is very short which meant that when I tested it on a desktop PC I literally had it hanging off the front, which is not a good move!

This drive currently retails for around £50, and I can honestly say that if you need an external drive, for any reason, this one is well worth considering.

5W/50 Series – Business Opportunities with Windows Home Server – Recording Available

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 8, 2009

1

For those of you who missed the 5W/50 Series – Business Opportunities with Windows Home Server live webcast last week, don’t worry, there is a recording of the event that you can watch at your leisure.

Having now watched the event, it was very good and worth an hour of your time.

I was due to help present but unfortunately I had a wedding I had to attend, and for some reason neither the bride, groom or my other half was particular happy with me doing a live webcast from the church. I know, some people!

Anyway, you can access the recording from the Microsoft Partner Learner Center by clicking here.

You need to be a Microsoft Registered Partner to access the content, but it is free to become one and only takes a few minutes, and will give you access to a lot of other interesting materials.

EC-Council Hacker Halted Conference – Very Special Registration Rate for UWHS Readers

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 8, 2009

0

Here at Using Windows Home Server we have got an amazing offer for you!

You are invited to attend the 14th Hacker Halted Conference, which will be held in Miami, Florida, from Sep 23 – 25, 2009. Hosted by EC-Council, the event will have many world class security experts present intriguing topics and sharing important updates related to cyber security. This conference will also serve as a learning and networking platform for information security professionals globally. To see the world class program agenda, please click HERE.

To make it a truly valuable conference for the participants, EC-Council will be hosting 3 specially customized Security Training Workshops on September 25. All conference registrants* will be eligible to attend any one of these workshops, each worth $599, absolutely free of charge!

Choose from one of the following workshops:

1. Ethical Hacking: Identifying Threats & Deploying Countermeasures

2. Incident Response: Principles of Incident Handling

3. Virtualization Security: Threats Exposed

Hurry! Seats are available on a First Come First Served basis.

I am certain you will be concerned about the state of information security, as well as understand threats that your organization may be exposed to, and ways to overcome or prevent such threats. Hacker Halted USA presents you that opportunity, and I am certain your participation will give you a truly valuable and memorable experience.

This special pass, at a discounted rate of just $699 (Usual price of $1299), will give you full access to the conference, as well as any of the training workshops on Sep 25.

Do not miss out on this opportunity to join a world class conference, network with other information security professionals, attend a full fledged training workshop, as well as be part of the largest reunion of Certified Ethical Hackers globally.

We look forward to see you in Miami.

http://www.hackerhalted.com

Registration Instructions

To register for this special conference pass, please do the following:

1. Click HERE

2. Fill up all the necessary details

3. Under “Type of Conference Pass”, select “VIP Pass – Requires Promo Code”

4. Under “Promo Code”, input “HHUSA-UWHS”

5. Choose “Preferred Payment Mode”

6. Under “Choice of Training Workshop”, select the applicable option.

Accommodation

This Conference is being held at the Hilton Miami Downtown, and they have offered to attendees of the conference a very special rate of just $105 per night. Rooms are filling up fast, so do make your bookings early to avoid disappointment.

To reserve your accommodation at the Hilton Miami Downtown, please click HERE or copy and paste the below URL onto your browser:

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/MIADTHF-HHU919-20090916/index.jhtml

mControl for Windows Home Server Giveaway – Week 2 Results

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 8, 2009

0

Last week we said we would give away another mControl licence – well, this week’s winner is…

Michael Wacey

Well done, your licence is on it’s way to you now.

mControl is software for your Digital Home. mControl allows you to control all aspects of your home from your Media Center PC, locally or remotely via Internet Explorer browser or from your Windows Mobile device.

For more information on mControl and Embedded Automation, click here.

Stay tuned for another giveaway shortly, including more mControl licences.

Help Wanted – Apply Within

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 7, 2009

11

Here at Using Windows Home Server, we have previously put out the call for new writers for the site, and a number of you have answered that call. We have some fantastic writers in the team, including Tim Daleo, Phil Bevan and Joe Nell.

We have also had a fantastic response from you, the readers, to our various giveaways when we have asked you to suggest articles you would like to see.

The problem is that there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything that is needed, so we are once again putting out the call.

Do you want to review some software or some add-ins? We can supply you with the software to review. You don’t have to have written anything in the past, as long as you are willing to look at the software or the add-in and write up something that others may find interesting or useful.

You may ask yourself what you will get in return? I would love to say riches, good fortune, praise, etc, etc, but in reality you will get a great feeling about being part of the community, adding value to an already growing arena. Plus you will get free stuff! That stuff may include software, books, other swag like t-shirts, bags, etc – it all just depends at the time, but be certain if there is some free stuff going, you will be at the top of the list. Plus you will often be able to get free access to events just by proving you write for a site! Trust me, it works!

Most of us MVP’s were fortunate enough to start by giving back to the community – so who knows where it might lead for you?

So, what have you got to lose? Why not give it a go, who knows, you may like it?

You don’t have to have written before, and in fact, we can always help you write up the review if you like, it is more important that you are willing to give it a go. The reviews can be for Windows Home Server, Windows Media Center, whatever you like really. And the same goes for articles – is there something you want to write and see published?

So, if you are interested, drop me a line at andrew @ usingwhs.com (remembering to remove the spaces) and we can take it from there.

My Windows Home Server Article Featured in the Microsoft TechNet Newsletter

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 7, 2009

0

One of my Windows Home Server articles has recently been published in the fortnightly Microsoft TechNet newsletter – the one that was sent out on the 28th May 2009 to around 160,000 subscribers, as the Feature Article.

The article was based on the post I did on Backing up your Windows Home Server shared folders with an external drive.

I was really pleased that they published another Windows Home Server article (this is the second one I have had published in the TechNet newsletter). This just goes to show that Microsoft do see that Windows Home Server is an important product and that not every single thing published by them is Windows 7!

I have a few more articles they are going to publish over the coming months, so stay tuned.

If you are not subscribed to the TechNet newsletter, you can do so by clicking here.

Windows 7 Release Date and my new book

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 2, 2009

1

Microsoft today announced that the release date for Windows 7 will be 22nd October 2009 and that the RTM edition (that means Release to Manufacturing) will be during the last two weeks of July.

This is good news and means that Windows 7 will be available for the all important holiday sales.

There is also going to be a Windows 7 Upgrade Options Program for people buying PCs before Windows 7 ships.

The bad news for me though with that release date is that I now have to pull my finger out and get my Windows 7 book finished and ready for publishing around the same time. So if anyone has any Windows 7 tweaks, tips or tricks that would like to share, please email me at andrew @ usingwhs.com (removing the spaces). Any really good ones that I use will get a mention and a free copy of the book.

Gaming Voice Chat Server using Windows Home Server

Joseph Nell

-

Jun 2, 2009

10

If you’ve ever played a game with a group of friends, you’ll know that being able to communicate often results in superior performance, especially in games where cooperation is required. Windows Home Server provides a solid base for running your own Voice Chat server.

For many of us, TeamSpeak was our first voice chat application. Among the MMO crowd, Ventrilo seems to have become the de facto standard for group play, though some clans/guilds continue to use TeamSpeak. Another solution from the Open Source realm is Mumble and it’s server counter-part Murmur.

Since installation of each of these is fairly well documented, I’ve chosen to simply highlight the resources you’ll need to get started. None of these provides our wonderful ease of installation most add-in’s have, nor do they provide configuration options through the WHS Console.

TeamSpeak

The TeamSpeak server can be obtained from the TS Downloads page here. In addition, since we don’t want to require the user to be logged on all the time, you should grab the dedicated service file.

As of June 2, 2009, the Downloads page doesn’t list a download for the service executable. It is still accessible on their site, however they strictly forbid direct linking to their downloads. To get around this, simply click the link for the latest server download. When presented with the agreement, rather than clicking on “I Agree”, copy the link address and paste it into your URL bar. Add _service to the file name so it looks like: /server_windows_service.exe

Hopefully the TeamSpeak developers fix this little problem soon.

Simple directions are provided for installing the TeamSpeak service here, aside from the incorrect download instructions.

Please note that TeamSpeak’s license allows for non-commercial use. Review their FAQ before assuming use outside your friends and family is permitted.

Ventrilo

Ventrilo installation is similar to TeamSpeak, however the installer includes the necessary files to run it as a service. After installation on your WHS, you simply run the Install menu option found in your start menu under VentSrv->Service. Note that the service does not automatically start after install. You can start it manually through the Services administrative tool found in your start menu.

Ventrilo’s public version allows for a maximum of 8 connections before requiring you to purchase a license or more likely service from a hosting provider.

Mumble/Murmur

Installing and configuring Murmur is a bit more complicated, but well covered here. Setting it up as a service is documented by the installation page here. There is a small error in the installation document step 5 referring to “Murmur Demo” where the previous instruction is to create an entry entitled “Murmur”. Simple ignore the Demo portion and use the Murmur entry found there.

Both pages can be overwhelming if you’re new to editing configuration files and registry entries. The results are pretty good, however, since you have an open source license, rather than it being proprietary and/or restrictive. Mumble also provides an on-screen overlay within certain games.

Each of these packages has advantages and disadvantages. TeamSpeak has a fairly restrictive license, however it has a built-in web interface that allows you to configure your server to meet your needs. Ventrilo has a limit on the number of users before you encounter licensing restrictions and requires you to edit an INI file by hand, however it does install as a service a tad bit easier than TeamSpeak. Mumble/Murmur are open source, however the installation and configuration tasks are a level of complication above the previous two options.

One of the biggest drawbacks to each of these is a lack of integration with the Windows Home Server Console. A problem hopefully some adventurous developer would be willing to step forward and fix.

TrainSignal Windows Home Server Training Giveway – The Winners

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 2, 2009

5

Last week we reviewed the Windows Home Server training DVDs from TrainSignal and we also ran a competition to win a couple of copies of the training DVDs.

Well it’s time to announce the winners:

Anders Sundqvist from Sweden

Grant Sebastian from Australia

Bud Gallagher from the US

Congratulations to you all.

I will be posted out the training DVDs to you in the next few days, so look out for them winging your way shortly.

And for those that didn’t win, as usual keep visiting Using Windows Home Server and look out for more giveaways shortly.

Windows Home Servidor

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 2, 2009

0

Donavon West, my friend and fellow Windows Home Server MVP sent me this today which I though I would share with you all.

Today we are pleased to announce that we have begun shipping the Home Servidor, a Windows Home Server built into the body of a real working cigar humidor. The top of the unit holds up to 15 of your favourite cigars, while the bottom chamber (thermally isolated from the upper chamber) contains a powerful yet “green powered” home server.

“Home Servers are becoming a must have appliance in today’s multi-PC households, but why settle for an ugly grey box?” asks Home Servidor designer Donavon West. “I designed the Home Servidor for the person who wants more. The Home Servidor looks great on the desk of your home office. No one even suspects that there is a server hidden away inside”.

Each Home Servidor is handcrafted. They start at $799, available in 1TB and 2TB models. The computer hardware uses Intel’s Atom processor and “green” hard drives. Both are energy efficient, a feature that is a must for an “always on” appliance such as a home server. A welcome side effect of these low power technologies is that very little heat is emitted, which is desirable for use in a humidor.

“Care should be taken to store cigars in a cool dry place” says West. “Most experts recommend a temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of around 70%. With that, we have taken great measures to thermally isolate the cigar storage area of the Home Servidor from the warmer computer equipment below. The Home Servidor incorporates an air gap between the compartments as well as a special insulating foam strip that forms an air tight seal.”

At the heart of the Home Servidor is Microsoft’s Windows Home Server operating system. It is managed from an easy to use console which is extendable through Add-Ins. The Home Servidor comes pre-loaded with one such add-in which will keep you informed of any system health warnings via Twitter (an exclusive feature of the Home Servidor).

About the company
The Home Servidor is manufactured by a privately held venture based in Baltimore, MD. It is lead by noted Windows Home Server expert and Microsoft MVP, Donavon West who runs the popular Windows Home Server website www.HomeServerHacks.com. He is also the author of the Windows Home Server Twitter Add-In @WHSTweet. See www.HomeServidor.com for more information.

Nice one Donavon! Watch out for a review soon 🙂

KeepVault V3.0 for Windows Home Server Giveaway

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Jun 1, 2009

0

Last week we reviewed the KeepVault 3.0 Windows Home Server add-in.

KeepVault from Proxure is an online backup solution add-in for your important files that your store on your Windows Home Server. The latest version, version 3 has just been released.

As we mentioned in the review, as usual here at Using Windows Home Server, we have a giveaway.

Proxure have been kind enough to give us TWO 40GB storage for 1 year accounts for you lucky readers. Proxure have been giving away a lot of accounts over the last few months so grab them while you can!

All you have to do is click here to learn more about KeepVault and email us at giveaways @ usingwhs.com (remembering as usual to remove the spaces) put the title KeepVault Giveaway and tell us what you would use the 40GB storage space to backup. The closing date for this giveaway is Monday 8th June 2009.

Good luck!

mControl for Windows Home Server Giveaway – Week 2 and a Surprise

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

May 31, 2009

2

A few weeks ago, Tim Daleo posted the first in a series of articles on using mControl for Windows Home Server to do all sorts of things within his house. This week, Tim posted the latest installed instalment on using Macros with mControl.

mControl is software for your Digital Home. mControl allows you to control all aspects of your home from your Media Center PC, locally or remotely via Internet Explorer browser or from your Windows Mobile device.

For more information on mControl and Embedded Automation, click here.

To coincide with these articles, our good friends at Embedded Automation have given us a number of licences for mControl that we can giveaway to our loyal readers.

So, to win this week’s licence, just send an email to giveaways @ usingwhs.com (remembering to remove the spaces) with the title mControl Giveway Week 2 and a suggestion for an article or review you would like to see. If you already submitted a suggestion in the Week 1 giveaway your name has automatically been entered into the hat 🙂

The closing date for this weeks giveaway is Sunday 7th Juine 2009. One lucky winner will be drawn completely at random. Good luck!

Oh and what’s the surprise you ask? Well, I’ve decided to give another licence away to those that entered the Week 1 competition, so without further ado, the lucky winner of the extra licence in Week 1 is………..

Paul Yantko – well done Paul!

Well done, your licence is on it’s way to you now.

How To Perform a Server Reinstallation of Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

May 31, 2009

39

Continuing our series of “How To….” guides, this one is all about how to perform a server reinstallation of the Windows Home Server software in the event of a problem, or just because you want to.

PREREQUISITES

Before you reinstall Windows Home Server, you should ensure you have the following available:

Your computer that was already running Windows Home Server.
A mouse, keyboard and monitor, all connected to the computer.
A working network connection connected to the computer.
The Windows Home Server installation DVD (or a USB stick with the WHS software on).
A Windows Home Server product key which you will need during the installation.

REINSTALLATION

Exactly the same as when you first installed Windows Home Server, your computer must support being able to boot from DVD or USB stick, otherwise the installation will not be able to take place. You may need to go into the BIOS of your computer in order to set the boot priority so that the DVD or USB stuck is first in the list. Consult the documentation that came with your computer if you are unsure how to do this. The other option is to choose the boot device when the computer starts up – again, check your documentation on doing this.

You should then see a screen displaying Windows is loading files…. (that means it working so far). If you don’t see this, then try again making sure you are booting from either the DVD or the USB stick.

Setup will then initialise – this may take a moment or two so be patient.

You should now be presented with the Welcome to Windows Home Server Setup screen. This step is simple – all you have to do is click Next to continue.

You will now need to select your Regional and Keyboard Settings and click Next to continue.

The next screen is called the Load Additional Storage Drivers screen. You need to ensure that all of your hard drives are listed on this page, for example mine shows a single 75GB ATA drive attached.

Vol 1 – this is the SYS volume and contains all the files and settings for your Windows Home Server. This is the volume that will be deleted and recreated during the server reinstallation process.

Vol 2 – this is the DATA volume and contains all of your shared folders and computer backups. This volume will remain untouched during the server reinstallation process.If all of your drives are shown just click Next to continue.

If for some reason one or more of your hard drives is not displayed here, then it might be because you need to load an additional driver. If this is the case, click on the Load drivers button and then locate the Device Driver File. Click once on the relevant Device Driver File and click Open to continue.

When you have loaded the additional Device Driver File or files your hard drives should all now appear in the list. If this is the case then just click Next to continue. If they are still not shown then check all the connections inside the computer (sometimes it is as simple as a loose cable) and see if there are any updated device drivers on the manufacturers website.

The next screen that is displayed is the Select an Installation Type screen. Ensure Server Reinstallation is selected (it should be automatically as the setup program should have detected that you already had Windows Home Server installed) and click Next to continue. Make sure that Server Reinstallation is selected otherwise you will lose all of your existing WHS data (including your Shared Folders and Computer Backups).

The next screen is the End-User License Agreement (sometimes referred to as the EULA). You should read through this carefully and then assuming you agree to it (and if you don’t then you won’t be able to install and then use Windows Home Server) click the I accept this agreement radio button and then click Next to continue.

You will then be asked to enter your Windows Home Server Product Key. The Windows Home Server Product Key should be located either inside the DVD case or on a sticker on the actual computer if you have purchased a Windows Home Server computer. Type in the Product Key carefully and then click Next to continue.

The next stage is to type in the name of your Windows Home Server. You must type in the same name as you used last time and click Next to continue.

Right, you are at the last stage now before the reinstallation actually begins. You should now see the Ready to Install Windows Home Server screen. All you have to do now is click on the Start button to begin the actual installation.

The installation will now commence – this could take a little while so again, be patient.

When the installation is complete, you will see the Windows Home Server Welcome Screen.

The next thing you need to do is configure Windows Home Server, so click here to go to that how to guide.

Now that the Windows Home Server reinstallation process has completed you will need to recreate all of your user accounts and perform all of your setting changes in order to get your Windows Home Server back into the working state you had it in before you needed to perform the reinstallation. You will also need to perform some updates for your Windows Home Server to fill in all the missing updates since the version of the software you used to perform the reinstall.

How To Install Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

May 31, 2009

21

Continuing our series of “How To….” guides, this one is all about how to install the Windows Home Server software.

PREREQUISITES

Before you install Windows Home Server, you should ensure you have the following available:

A computer capable of running Windows Home Server.
A mouse, keyboard and monitor, all connected to the computer.
A working network connection connected to the computer.
The Windows Home Server installation DVD (or a USB stick with the WHS software on).
A Windows Home Server product key which you will need during the installation.

INSTALLATION

Your computer must support being able to boot from DVD or USB stick, otherwise the installation will not be able to take place. You may need to go into the BIOS of your computer in order to set the boot priority so that the DVD or USB stuck is first in the list. Consult the documentation that came with your computer if you are unsure how to do this. The other option is to choose the boot device when the computer starts up – again, check your documentation on doing this.

You should then see a screen displaying Windows is loading files…. (that means it working so far). If you don’t see this, then try again making sure you are booting from either the DVD or the USB stick.

Setup will then initialise – this may take a moment or two so be patient.

You should now be presented with the Welcome to Windows Home Server Setup screen. This step is simple – all you have to do is click Next to continue.

You will now need to select your Regional and Keyboard Settings and click Next to continue.

The next screen is called the Load Additional Storage Drivers screen. You need to ensure that all of your hard drives are listed on this page, for example mines shows a single 75GB ATA drive attached. If all of your drives are shown just click Next to continue.

If for some reason one or more of your hard drives is not displayed here, then it might be because you need to load an additional driver. If this is the case, click on the Load drivers button and then locate the Device Driver File. Click once on the relevant Device Driver File and click Open to continue.

When you have loaded the additional Device Driver File or files your hard drives should all now appear in the list. If this is the case then just click Next to continue. If they are still not shown then check all the connections inside the computer (sometimes it is as simple as a loose cable) and see if there are any updated device drivers on the manufacturers website.

The next screen that is displayed is the Select an Installation Type screen. Ensure New Installation is and click Next to continue.

The next screen is the End-User License Agreement (sometimes referred to as the EULA). You should read through this carefully and then assuming you agree to it (and if you don’t then you won’t be able to install and then use Windows Home Server) click the I accept this agreement radio button and then click Next to continue.

You will then be asked to enter your Windows Home Server Product Key. The Windows Home Server Product Key should be located either inside the DVD case or on a sticker on the actual computer if you have purchased a Windows Home Server computer. Type in the Product Key carefully and then click Next to continue.

The next stage is to actually name your Windows Home Server. By default the Home Server name is SERVER and you could quite easily just leave it as that, although it would actually be better for you to name it something else so that it means more to you.

Type in a new, or leave it as SERVER and click Next to continue.

The next screen to be displayed is the Formatting Hard Drives screen. This screen will list all of the hard drives and volumes and remind you that all the data will be lost on those drives when the installation begins and the drives are formatted. In order to continue with the installation at this point you need to select the I acknowledge that all data on these drives will be lost box and then click on the Next button to continue.

You will be then asked once again to confirm that you are sure you want to continue and that all data on those hard drives will be deleted and lost, so click Yes.

Right, you are at the last stage now before the installation actually begins. You should now see the Ready to Install Windows Home Server screen. All you have to do now is click on the Start button to begin the actual installation.