Cadalyst - March 2008 - (Page 32)

cadmanager Cool Software Utilities for Your Job Better management comes from the right tools. By Robert Green Testing and Evaluation Ever wish you had an easy way to deliver multiple-choice tests to check user expertise or verify the completion of training exercises? AutoTest Pro is the answer. All you need are the test questions you want to ask, the correct answers, and a copy of Microsoft Access. You can use AutoTest Pro to deliver, time, score, and report the results. It’s a steal at $39.99. C AD managers are responsible for so many tasks that they seem overwhelming at times. With managing workflows, hardware and software, composing standards and training materials, and everything else, CAD management isn’t merely a CAD-related job. As years have passed, I’ve researched a lot of software utilities and have come to rely on several as key weapons in my CAD management arsenal. In this month’s “CAD Manager,” I’ll share these utilities with you and give you my reasoning for using each. I’ve organized the utilities into logical groups. Most have free trial versions, so please check the companies’ Web sites as listed below. restore files but to completely reinstall your machine to its prior state. It’s great for training labs or test beds where machines must often be wiped clean. For user machines with lots of unpreserved sensitive data, I usually prefer the somewhat less-involved process of uninstalling and using Registry Booster. For $69.99, you may want to have a copy on hand, just in case. Machine and Software Configuration How many times a year do you install or uninstall software? Have you ever had registry conflicts or trouble duplicating user problems on your machine? Do you ever wish it were easier to keep your test machines or personal laptop clean throughout all the file swapping? Most CAD managers answer “Yes” to all these questions, so I’d like to give you two utilities I’ve used for years to deal with these problems. Registry Booster 2. This software is a powerful registry analyzer, cleaner, and restoring tool that makes it very easy to completely uninstall software and eliminate pesky registry conflicts. I use this program often for my test and development machines to eliminate all the digital garbage that stacks up during test installations, and I haven’t had a problem with it yet. As it cleans, it also creates a registry backup so the machine can be restored to its prior state. It is very flexible, intuitive software at a bargain price of $29. Ghost 12. A more thorough machine-backup and restoration tool, Ghost allows to you make a complete ghosted (thus the name) copy of your machine that can be used to not only Graphics, Video, and Audio Capture If you need to create training materials or standards guides for your users, you’ll invariably have to capture screen graphics and integrate them into written documentation. And if you conduct user training, why not record those sessions into audio/video lessons that users can replay any time they’d like? Capturing graphics-rich media such as CAD programs into written and video documentation is the best way to reduce questions because users will actually see what you’re talking about, and they can review your training sessions and materials at any time. Capturing the graphical content isn’t always that easy because CAD programs have lots of cascading menus, tool tips, and cursor motions that Windows PrintScreen command can’t capture. And there really is no workable way to record computerbased video without some utility software. I’ve come to rely on the utilities below for these pesky tasks. Snag It 8.2. This software is the best screen-capture tool I’ve ever used. It captures all sorts of menus, dialog boxes, and cursor motions either via entire screen capture or In this article Academix’s AutoTest Pro 2007 www.academix.com Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard www.adobe.com BeamYourScreen www.beamyourscreen.com Carbonite www.carbonite.com Citrix Online’s GoToMeeting www.gotomeeting.com Symantec’s Ghost 12 www.symantec.com/ghost TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio 5 www.camtasia.com TechSmith’s SnagIt 8.2 www.snagit.com Uniblue Systems’ Registry Booster 2 www.uniblue.com/registrybooster WinZip International’s WinZip Pro www.winzip.com 32 March 2008 | cadalyst | www.cadalyst.com http://www.academix.com http://www.adobe.com http://www.beamyourscreen.com http://www.carbonite.com http://www.gotomeeting.com http://www.symantec.com/ghost http://www.camtasia.com http://www.snagit.com http://www.uniblue.com/registrybooster http://www.winzip.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - March 2008

Cadalyst - March 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Thicker than Water Safe Keeping — Backup Software Secures Your Designs AMD’s ATI FireGL Graphics Cards AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 — Surveying, Civil Engineering, and Land Development Software Cool Software Utilities for Your Job History, Nonhistory, or Both? In the Eye of the Storm Builders’ Information Modeling CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes CAD from the Streets

Cadalyst - March 2008

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