Be careful if you try this. Before trying this, read the last section, even if you skip through the rest.

Why I Need to Delete Many Files

When you make websites, you amass a lot of files and you need to take care of them.

I have a new security system where I back-up all my websites – and everything else for that matter. It’s a 1TB Seagate Backup Plus external drive. It has its own back-up software, which works fine. However, I thought it wise to test file restore before needing it in anger.

There is no instruction book, but there’s help on their website, and 4MB of PDF user manual. Naturally I read it all

To test the restore mechanism (you should always test your back-ups – too late to find it isn’t working when you’ve lost your hard disc!) I decided to restore one file. That must be easy enough! I followed my nose and restored all the files on my C: drive except the selected one! Not only that, but I’d selected the “don’t overwrite” option, apparently, so every existing file was joined by its twin!

In a few moments, my file system had doubled in size, almost filled my disk, slowed down my computer, and I’d made myself very cross into the bargain!

OK, so that was just plain stupid. It was my fault entirely – should have read the instructions more carefully. Having written many pages of website, CMS and software help over the years,

1. I know how difficult it is to be both terse and definitive, and
2. I’m very familiar with the support desk acronym, RTFM: Read The … Manual!

Oh dear, now I’m now the on the receiving end, in a mess, what should I do about it?

Deleting Many Files, Method 1

Now, luckily, the duplicate files are easy to spot. Each has the same filename as its twin, with “ (2)” appended before the period. Like this, right.

That’s easy enough to fix. Each time I open Windows Explorer I plan to delete the duplicate files manually, selecting them all with Ctrl-click and pressing the Del key.

More Reasons to Delete the Files

After a week or so using method 1, I’m not making much headway. Having deleted loads of files, the free disc space hasn’t increased very much. I can’t begin to guess how long it’s going ro take me to delete them all.

Then I open a picture using Picasa. Immediately, it starts indexing all the duplicate images – there must be 1,000’s of them! How on Earth am I going to get rid of all those?

This quickly became tedious, as you can imagine! So I need another method.

Deleting Many Files, Method 2

If Windows is indexing your files, you can search for them using Explorer. Here we’re looking for files with a .txt extension in my Dropbox. Type a search term into the search box, top right in the Explorer window.  “*” means “anything”, so “*.txt” will list all files with a .txt extension. Not only that, but Explorer will list all the files matching the search term in this folder and all its sub-folders.

To delete them, use the mouse or press Ctrl-A to select them all, then press the Del key to remove them.

But I only want to delete those with “ (2)” at the end of the filename, so, sadly, this won’t work for me. If I type “ (2)” into the search box, Explorer lists all the relevant files from all the sub-directories, but Explorer’s idea of what’s relevant is not the same as mine.

It lists every file with a 2 in the file name. I want to keep some of these. If I do it in My Documents, this method will delete files I may want to keep. It works the same with other search phrases, such as (2) or “(2)”.

This is because parentheses mean something to Windows Search: “Find everything inside the brackets.” Hence it lists all files whose file names contain 2.

How to Find File Names That Contain “(2)”

It suddenly occurs to me that (why didn’t I think of this earlier?), had I been using Microsoft’s original operating system, MS-DOS, I could have identified the duplicate files easily using a wildcard search. A search for *(2).* finds all files whose file name ends “(2)” with any file extension.

Now, Windows Search is very powerful. You can read all about it here. It even has a command that allows you to use these old search queries. To use the old syntax, begin your query with, tilde, “~”.

So, all I need do is to press Ctrl-A, select all these files, and Del, delete them and move them to the Recycle bin. I test this in my Dropbox folder, which I can easily reinstate if doesn’t work.

Let’s try it in My Documents! It works.

More Files to Delete

Now the duplicates have gone from My Documents and from my Dropbox folder.

The Seagate system’s default setting seems only to backup and restore data files and images, not system files, .exe’s, .dll’s and other program files. There are many data files and images in the system directories, so I still have a lot of duplicates. Let’s run it on C:\ as well, to get rid of all the duplicates everywhere.

Conclusion, After Deleting Many Files and Saving 100’s of Man-hours

Even with all the testing, this process only took half an hour or so. I now have no files with (2) appended to the file name. It would have taken months to do it the manual way.

It also looks as though Picasa has lost the duplicates too. I checked several picture folders and they have all gone. In fact, Picasa tells me it’s “compacting its files to save space”, so it’s definitely noticed something going on!

I’m really pleased with the result!

Be Very Cautious When Deleting Files This Way!

Deleting one wrong file can be disastrous. Losing several, ten, one hundred, one thousand, when you don’t intend to, can be life-changing for your business, your marriage, your relationships…

1. Always test your method on a directory (with sub-directories) that don’t matter: I tested this on a test folder, with test sub-folders, before doing it for real, then on my Dropbox folder, which can be recreated easily;
2. Always back up your file system before you try anything like this, so you can recover your start position in case you make a mistake;
3. IF IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT!
   Get expert help from someone like Nortech Computers.

Well, thanks to everyone who entered our quiz. It appears that, for every entry we received, there was at least one who started it but didn’t finish. From the feed-back we received (so far) everyone seemed to have had a good time.

To do the quiz again, click here or, for the answers,  click here.

Picture Quiz Winners

We enjoyed meeting up with our two winners. They are, in a way, opposites.

The first belongs to one of Portishead’s oldest families. With 29 points out of a possible 32, the winner was David Gale, retired auto engineer who has lived in Portishead since he was one week old. He knew some of the answers and solved those he didn’t by cycling around. “The trickiest one was the Seafarer’s Sculpture,” he said, “but once I worked out the most Easterly stone, I knew they were coal boats. A school friend of mine had worked on the St Vincent!”

David’s was also the first entry received, making it an even more formidable achievement. Since there was no under-18′s winner, he chose the cash prize rather than the champagne.

Second prize, for scoring 27 points, goes to Paul Black, a new resident. This was a team effort from Paul, his partner Lynda French, and their Golden Retriever, Oscar. Paul moved to Portishead in 2005. He is a Homeopath and Bowen Therapist, who works in Portishead and Weston-super-Mare, and Lynda is an Acupuncturist. Visit Total Health Homeopathy to find out more.

Paul and Lynda are keen cyclists, run with the Portishead Running Club, and Paul is treasurer of the Portishead Yacht & Sailing Club. He said, “Oscar really enjoyed exploring different places in Portishead to find the answers. So did we!”

Lin Lawrence was one whose entry never made it. She emailed, “Loved the quiz. Lovely to know more about the place we live. Think I go around with my eyes closed. We are going to take it with us on a Devon weekend with the gang; it will make for an interesting evening.”

How We Calculated the Results

Since the “Judges’ decision is final,” we created a Master Result. You can see it here.

Next, we compared every entry with the master and scored it this way:

• Wrong scored zero;
• 100% correct answer, 2;
• Satisfactory answer, 1.

In the case of a tie, we would add a bonus point for answers that go the extra mile.

E-cards seem like a cop-out to traditionalists, fine for a later generation. This can be true if you send the same card to everyone on your mailing list.

However, by sending a personal message with each card, you find a little time in your busy life to keep in touch with people you like and respect.  It’s the same as sending a physical card by post, except that:

• it’s kinder to the environment, using less paper and fuel;
• it saves you money, in cards and postage;
• it saves time and fuel, as you don’t need to go buy and post them.

Now you can donate the money you’ve saved to your favourite charity!

BlueTree E-card

Our e-Christmas card is personal, one for each recipient. We send individual emails, with a link to a single page containing a general message for all recipients. We personalise it using a “to=” parameter. If you click this link, you’ll see an example.

We can change some of the text on the web page using our Content Management System, or CMS, but it changes for everyone. The individual message is in the email and the parameter.

Make Your Own

The “to=” parameter is too complex for the CMS. However, you can easily make an on-line e-card of your own, and keep the personal message for the email.

We’ll post more on how to do this later.

Here is another example. Read about the first here.

There’s usually a flurry of mails like this around Christmas. People can be taken in more easily if they’re expecting a delivery, as many do at this time of year.

How to Spot It As Spam

There are two give-aways in this mail, on top of the time of year, which should make us all more vigilant:

1. The word, “postrider”, which looks like a word made up by someone who couldn’t translate it from another language;
2. The format of the “Get Postal Receipt” button, which looks very unprofessional.

What to Do Next

Our advice is always the same,

• Don’t click any links, nor open any attachments;
• Delete it or mark it as spam;
• If you feel public-spirited, and it claims to be from an organisation, search for what they want you to do about spam.

Fedex has a whole micro-site about spam, which makes useful reading. It contains examples of common spam emails.

Finally, here’s a page with how to report spam to lots of major organisations. Thank you Marjolein Katsma.

Yesterday I received this spam email, “Here’s some activity you may have missed on Facebook.”

It looks quite Kosher, but I always check mails that want me to click on a link to a website. Just as well! It wasn’t going to send me to Facebook al all, but to somewhere else entirely. Actually www.hausfrisia.de is the web site of a holiday villa, but not the page in question. A hacker has hijacked their site, or their DNS.

This happened to a small business in Portishead earlier this year. Read about it here.

Don’t Click a Link

CHECK BEFORE YOU CLICK – even if you recognise the sender. It may be too late afterwards. Remember, the better-known the sender, the more likely they are to be imitated.

1. Check the From address, in this case it’s, Facebook [agroinfo@pub….rect] agroinfo? Isn’t that enough on its own?
2. Hover on the link, DON’T CLICK, and check the target web page address. In Outlook, example right, it appears in a small window, but Thunderbird displays it in the status bar at the bottom.
3. Is the link plausible? In this case, NO – it’s nothing like Facebook!
4. Still not sure? Check all the links. If they all go to the same web page then get suspicious.

When in doubt, leave it out.

What to do next

If you’re happy, click that link.

If you’re not, mark it as Junk or delete it NOW. If it’s from someone famous, as this one is, search for what to do. In this case, I searched for facebook notify suspicious email. I found this page on the Facebook site, which asked me to forward the mail to phish@spamreport.facebook.com.

So that’s what I did.

Another Example

Another example arrived today, apparently from Fedex. Read our post here.

Have some local fun, out and about on the Internet!
Maybe even win a prize!

Sixteen photographs, all taken in Portishead, sit on a web page. All you have to do, is wander round the town with a print-out, smart-phone or tablet, and answer a question about each picture.

The main thing is to explore parts of the town that you maybe haven’t seen before. The quiz runs for the whole of December, so there’s plenty of time.

Couch potatoes may be able to get some of the answers on the Internet, but not all of them … we hope!

Background

The idea came to us when my wife and I were looking out to sea from Battery Point. We overheard someone say, “D’you know, I’ve lived in Portishead for over two years and I never knew this place existed!”

Perhaps there are long-time residents like us who have never walked around the Marina, too.

So, we thought it might be nice to encourage new residents to look around the old parts of town, and old Possett people to pluck up the courage and enter the new.

Hope you like it. www.bluetree.co.uk/quiz.

Well, your on-line image is important, and it’s easy to lose control of it. If you’re in business, “Yourself” also means “Company.” It’s important to monitor what people see when they Google you.

Google is Clever

The trouble is, Google tries to give you the best result for you. It uses everything it’s got, and bends the results to favour things it thinks you want to see. This is usually fine when you search for a restaurant or another business, but not when you search for yourself.

You need to see what others would see.

Browse Privately

Web browsers these days have a Private Browsing mode. At the end of this post we’ve included some hints on how to turn it on in different browsers.

Private mode means your browser neither uses, nor keeps, a history of the pages you visit. It won’t leave cookies or any other local files, no trace of your presence on the computer you use. Use Private Browsing:

• when you don’t want to leave a trail on someone else’s computer;
• for banking transactions;
• to check your real position in search engine results;
• to buy your spouse’s birthday present.

Beware: You’re still leaving some sort of trail behind on the search engine’s server, so if you want total privacy you need to look further than we can tell you.

But that’s not the end of the story!

How to Google Yourself

1. Start your web browser;
2. Don’t use a mobile device, like your phone or tablet, because they tell search engines too much about you and your location; the search engine will skew your results;
3. Open a private browsing window (see below for how to do this with your favourite web browser).
4. Make sure you’re logged out of everything: Facebook, LinkedIn, Trip Advisor, Trade Association – everything;
5. Especially make sure you log out of all Google apps, like Gmail, YouTube, Picassa…

Almost ready: tell the search engine where want to be for your experiments. In this Google example, it knows I’m in Portishead so it might show me results for this area when I don’t want it to.

Click “Search tools” (1) and then use the drop-down (2) to choose the location you want. The default location is that of your ISP’s server. Ours is in Guildford, Essex, so it isn’t much use for my local searches anyway.

You can enter a post code, county, city, or UK. Google will tell you if it doesn’t recognise the area you’ve chosen.

Now you’re ready.

1. Search for your name, or the name of your business;
2. Try common misspellings;
3. Now do an Image search, and Maps – see right.

Now What?

Did you like what you found? Yes? That’s OK then.

If you didn’t, then it’s time for a chat with your marketing guys!

And finally, don’t forget to Bing yourself, and Yahoo yourself too…

How to Start Private Browsing in Different Web Browsers

Most browsers support the shortcut, Ctrl-Shift-P. Here’s a selection of other ways to start it. They all open a new window or tab.

Firefox

Click the Firefox button, then Start Private Browsing. If you’re using the menu bar, it’s under Tools.

Internet Explorer

Click the Tools icon, then Safety>, InPrivate Browsing. It’s also in the File menu.

Apple Safari

Curiously, Apple has it under the Edit menu, though it does just the same as in other browsers.

Opera

Opera button, Tabs and Windows; now choose New Private Window or Tab.

As in many small businesses, this webmaster had a senior role in the business. Webmaster was just one of the things he did – in whatever spare time he could find. It was an amicable parting, and he showed the others how to use their CMS, so they could continue updating the site.

However, nobody thought about all the webmaster logins, those things that don’t need attention very often.

By far the most important is your domain, e.g. bluetree.co.uk. If you do nothing else when your webmaster leaves, make sure you get hold of your domain management login name and password. This is important because,

1. You rent the domain, paying in advance; if you fail to renew it, you’ll lose it – and your on-line brand into the bargain;
2. A hacker could steal your domain and used to promote porn, terrorism and other unspeakable things – with subsequent damage to your reputation and the cost to restore it.

All this prompted us to write a new resource page: What to Do if Your Webmaster Leaves.

I was prompted to write this post after becoming quite cross, trying to register a new account with a well-known shower manufacturer. I need a spare part to stop my shower dripping.

They wanted me to enter a username, so I entered one and completed all the other form fields with an *. Then I got this error message.

I read down as far as “Problems were found…” and didn’t spot the little message below. “My problem,” you might say. But why not show the problem in red? I wouldn’t have missed it then!

As it was, I completed the form several times, adding one more field at a time trying to find which * (obligatory field indicator) was missing. And typing the password – twice – each time.

Then I thought, I’m using the Chrome browser, with third-party cookies turned off. Switched to IE, where I keep cookies turned on, and tried again. Same result. Read here about why cookies are important.

Finally I spotted the real error and changed the username.

Guess what! My second username was rejected, and my third. Then I chose a username “bbbbbbbbbbbb” and completed the purchase.

But WHY ASK FOR A USERNAME AT ALL?

Everyone else uses your email address. Just think of the time you’d have saved me – and probably loads of other people, too. ‘Nuff said!

(We still think it’s worth signing up for Yelp. See below)

It seems that Apple Maps has delivered the company a bunch of problems they could do without! Places on their new maps that no longer exist, businesses in the wrong place, cloud-covered towns and who knows what other daft problems?

This picture of the Clifton Suspension Bridge appeared yesterday in the Western Daily Press and many other newspapers.

Needless to say, Apple promised to fix all the problems soon.

No threat to Google then! At least, not this week.

This update was added 21/9/2012. Read the original post below.

New Apple Maps

From now on, all new iPhones and iPads will ship with Apple’s new operating system, iOS6. Its new mapping system will displace Google maps on these devices. The change will also affect existing devices when they upgrade to iOS6.

Apple’s new offering, “May just be the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever,” or so they claim.

Whilst the system uses Apple’s own mapping software, its map data is licensed from TomTom.  It uses the business directory, Yelp, to respond to local searches.

Apple Maps

Naturally, Apple Maps has some superb features. These include interactive, 3D, highly-detailed, vector graphics maps, turn-by-turn directions, and real time traffic information.

Great Detail in Apple's Maps

It’s all fully integrated with Apple’s unique Siri, the intelligent speech recognition / activation system. Now it actually works in the UK!

There’s more information here.

Google’s Answer

Google has responded by announcing its “Ground Truth” project.

Google example, with local data e.g. traffic restrictions and road names

Instead of relying on licensed maps, around 2008 Google started to build a whole new system – from the ground up. This combines its original map data with a huge amount of local data collected from Street View – still the best way to take a virtual tour of your destination.

Google claims that owning all the data is key, and without control of its licensed map and local data, Apple Maps will find it hard to compete. Some pundits predict Apple will return to Google Maps within two years.

So what?

With 40% of local searches performed on mobile devices, and 55% of those on Apple, this is likely to hit Google’s search market share.

Your Google Places page impressions could drop by up to a quarter, damaging your local lead generation activities.

So, with Apple Maps business data coming from Yelp, now’s the time to claim your business in Yelp’s directory. It won’t take long. And even if most iOS6 users switch back to Google Maps, it’s not a wast of time.

NB: We still recommend claiming your Yelp business listing, despite Apple’s gaff.

Don’t use exactly the same words in your Yelp entry as you do in Google Plus Local, use it to support your Plus Local page. Make it similar, perhaps with some different or extra business facts or differentiators.

Don’t have a Google Plus Local page? It’s easy. Find out how.