Friday, September 30, 2011

Movie Review Criteria

Movie Review Criteria
Philosophy:

I can’t stand how the average film review is written. It’s often a rambling essay that spends the majority of its text describing the basic plot of the film, often with some ambiguously chosen star rating attached. The highest star rating is often shared by over ten films of the current year, and – as the top rating – is shared with the best films of all time. With this format, multiple critics must be sought out to get a balanced view of the film, and to make sense of rankings.

With this in mind, I wanted to create a better format for presenting film reviews.

My goal is to present the major aspects of a film in a user-friendly format. I break down each review into five major elements, each described thoroughly and rated individually. These five ratings are averaged to gain the overall star rating. This way, it will be quite transparent how the final star rating was reached.

The Five Elements:

The five categories of my reviews are based on the elements of drama outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics: Plot, Character, Diction, Melody, and Spectacle. (And yes, I realize Aristotle had six parts. I’ve foregone his Spoken Thought, as it most closely resembles dialogue in film, and I would consider dialogue a function of the script, which is covered by Plot.)

Plot – The plot is what happens in a story, and is typically dictated by the script. With this category I will describe the premise of the script, and judge how well the film lived up to that premise. A good realization of a premise is well paced, contains few (if any) unnecessary scenes, has a defined structure and feeling of cohesion, and answers the narrative questions presented by the premise.

Character – This category is judged based upon both the strength of the characters and the strength of the performances by the actors portraying them. A good character has goals, an active inner life, a life that begins before the story and could continue after (assuming they live through the film, of course). They are memorable, usually likeable, and can be imagined in contexts outside of the main narrative. A good performance is not only believable, but convinces the audience of the character’s being. It brings interest and drama to otherwise insignificant actions and dialogue.

Diction – Images are the language of cinema, and a film’s diction is its cinematography. Strong images tell stories in themselves, and enhance the emotion of the action. Composition, choice of lens, camera moves, and film speed and type all contribute to the feel of a shot.

Melody – Melody takes into account the elements of production concerned with style and mood: music selection, art design, editing, sound design, wardrobe, costumes, make-up, and set design.

Spectacle – A film’s spectacle is its wow-factor. What is new and impressive in the film? Are the special effects believable? Does the film present a unique vision? Is the voice of the film original and well-developed? Will the film be influential to later films, or merely forgotten?

Movie Review Criteria
Philosophy:

I can’t stand how the average film review is written. It’s often a rambling essay that spends the majority of its text describing the basic plot of the film, often with some ambiguously chosen star rating attached. The highest star rating is often shared by over ten films of the current year, and – as the top rating – is shared with the best films of all time. With this format, multiple critics must be sought out to get a balanced view of the film, and to make sense of rankings.

With this in mind, I wanted to create a better format for presenting film reviews.

My goal is to present the major aspects of a film in a user-friendly format. I break down each review into five major elements, each described thoroughly and rated individually. These five ratings are averaged to gain the overall star rating. This way, it will be quite transparent how the final star rating was reached.

The Five Elements:

The five categories of my reviews are based on the elements of drama outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics: Plot, Character, Diction, Melody, and Spectacle. (And yes, I realize Aristotle had six parts. I’ve foregone his Spoken Thought, as it most closely resembles dialogue in film, and I would consider dialogue a function of the script, which is covered by Plot.)

Plot – The plot is what happens in a story, and is typically dictated by the script. With this category I will describe the premise of the script, and judge how well the film lived up to that premise. A good realization of a premise is well paced, contains few (if any) unnecessary scenes, has a defined structure and feeling of cohesion, and answers the narrative questions presented by the premise.

Character – This category is judged based upon both the strength of the characters and the strength of the performances by the actors portraying them. A good character has goals, an active inner life, a life that begins before the story and could continue after (assuming they live through the film, of course). They are memorable, usually likeable, and can be imagined in contexts outside of the main narrative. A good performance is not only believable, but convinces the audience of the character’s being. It brings interest and drama to otherwise insignificant actions and dialogue.

Diction – Images are the language of cinema, and a film’s diction is its cinematography. Strong images tell stories in themselves, and enhance the emotion of the action. Composition, choice of lens, camera moves, and film speed and type all contribute to the feel of a shot.

Melody – Melody takes into account the elements of production concerned with style and mood: music selection, art design, editing, sound design, wardrobe, costumes, make-up, and set design.

Spectacle – A film’s spectacle is its wow-factor. What is new and impressive in the film? Are the special effects believable? Does the film present a unique vision? Is the voice of the film original and well-developed? Will the film be influential to later films, or merely forgotten?

Star Ratings:

I wanted a ranking system that spanned from the greatest films ever made to the worst films imaginable, and that would rank films evenly between. I didn’t want the best film of the year to be equal to the best film of all time, unless it really was one of the best films of all time. Likewise the worst.
Five Stars – Among the best of all time. A great film.
Four 1/2  Stars – One of the best of the year. A must-see.
Four Stars – Isn’t perfect, but very strong. Highly recommended.
Three 1/2 Stars – Worth seeing, recommended.
Three Stars – A respectable effort. Enjoyable.
Two 1/2 Stars – Not good, not awful. But not worth your time.
Two Stars – Bad. The elements don’t work.
One 1/2 Stars – Annoyingly bad. You’ll suffer through the film’s runtime.
One star – Painfully bad. Everything is poorly done.
Half Star – Small children with no film experience could do better if given the chance. A half star film will ruin your day, and should be avoided at all costs.
Some examples of films that received five stars and are exemplary in one of the five categories:
Plot – Citizen Kane
Character – The Wizard of Oz
Diction – Vertigo
Melody – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Spectacle – Metropolis
Most of these are stellar in multiple categories, and a few could easily be interchanged. As these are all established classics, I also picked a modern film that would get five stars by my ranking: Requiem for a Dream.


I wanted a ranking system that spanned from the greatest films ever made to the worst films imaginable, and that would rank films evenly between. I didn’t want the best film of the year to be equal to the best film of all time, unless it really was one of the best films of all time. Likewise the worst.
Five Stars – Among the best of all time. A great film.
Four 1/2  Stars – One of the best of the year. A must-see.
Four Stars – Isn’t perfect, but very strong. Highly recommended.
Three 1/2 Stars – Worth seeing, recommended.
Three Stars – A respectable effort. Enjoyable.
Two 1/2 Stars – Not good, not awful. But not worth your time.
Two Stars – Bad. The elements don’t work.
One 1/2 Stars – Annoyingly bad. You’ll suffer through the film’s runtime.
One star – Painfully bad. Everything is poorly done.
Half Star – Small children with no film experience could do better if given the chance. A half star film will ruin your day, and should be avoided at all costs.
Some examples of films that received five stars and are exemplary in one of the five categories:
Plot – Citizen Kane
Character – The Wizard of Oz
Diction – Vertigo
Melody – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Spectacle – Metropolis
Most of these are stellar in multiple categories, and a few could easily be interchanged. As these are all established classics, I also picked a modern film that would get five stars by my ranking: Requiem for a Dream.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies


Terms plans -- often termed as cheapest form of insurance are a low premium, higher cover, longer coverage insurance product with an ease of buying online. It is heartening that more and more consumers are looking to buy 'term insurance' and keeping their insurance and investment needs separate.Most of individuals holding expensive life insurance policies find it difficult to decide whether to dump their existence insurance policies for a cheaper term plan cover.
Term life insurance policies provide financial security for families in the event of the insured's death. Coverage lasts for a set period or term; policy owners can buy term insurance for 5, 10, 20 or even 30 years.
Once the term of the policy expires, the coverage will be terminated. Term policies are inexpensive compared to permanent life insurance plans. Term life policy owners may also benefit from the simplicity and flexible nature of these insurance plans.
For beginners, pure term insurance policies pay the sum assured (or insurance cover) only on the policyholder's death. The policies don't have any investment component. That means that if the insurance buyer survives the term of the policy, s/he doesn't get anything.
However one has an option to add additional benefits such as accidental death and disability benefits and health riders with the basic term insurance policy.
For regular premium policies, the premium once fixed at the time of purchase of the policy remains the same throughout the premium paying term of the policy. If the insurance company experiences adverse mortality -- that is more deaths than what it has assumed at the time of product filing -- the company may choose to increase the premium for new customers.

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

Increased competition in Indian insurance market consisting of more than 20 private insurers have resulted in term plans being available at attractive rates to what they were couple of years ago.In India over a period of time, the mortality experience has been improving for the life insurance companies, which is getting reflected in the low premiums for term life insurance covers.
What should I get at end of term-plan policy? Questions like this shouldn't crop in while buying a term cover. Here, you have bought a term cover and your dependents will be compensated if something happens to you during the term of the cover. If you outlive the policy you won't get anything at the end of the policy.
Why term plans make sense: 
(a) Lower premiums: The premium is lower by up to 40% compared to earlier rates.
(b) Higher cover: Companies are encouraging buyers to take a higher cover. If a Rs 25 lakh cover is priced for Rs 3,695 then a Rs 1 crore cover costs Rs 9,706.
(c) Longer coverage: Cover can be taken till up to 75 years of age as compared to 60 65 earlier.
(d) Buying ease: Online term plans can be bought by individual herself/himself.
A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies
Adequate cover: Make sure cover is large enough.Things to remember while buying term insurance:
Expert advises a life cover of 12 times your annual income minus your investment assets plus any liabilities (includes amount of your outstanding loans). Life insurance is required in case you are earning with your effort and have dependent family members. If that's not the case you don't need life insurance. Young unmarried earning members with no dependents, children, homemaker, retired people don't need life insurance. Make sure you take inflation into account, possible increase in salary and changes in life style of your family.
The loan burden (ongoing housing/ personal loan, etc.) that will fall on the family post your lifetime, the impending cash requirements for children's education, wedding, healthcare needs of the spouse and other dependents in the family and so on are some of the things that should determine the sum assured of a term life policy.
On claim, the benefit under a term policy will be paid as a lump-sum to the insured's nominee or the beneficiary of the policy. And the good news here is that this lump-sum amount doesn't fall under the tax net. Insurers give term life policies for a maximum tenure of 30-35 years now.
The policy's premium will rise as the sum assured increases and the insurer may also require a medical check-up. For a male aged 30 years and a sum assured of Rs 30 lakh, the premium of a pure term policy is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 (for a term of thirty years) now. And, if you are looking to buy a rider with the policy -- say a personal accident cover, then cost will add up further.
A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policy
Cover loans too: If you have big ticket debts, cover them also. You can choose a plan where cover progressively decreases.Choose maximum term: Pick the maximum term as buying a fresh plan later in life will be costly. Ideally tenure of policy should be retirement age minus you present age. This means if you are 30 now and wish to retire at 60, term of policy should be 30 years. Buy a cover that will offer you protection till you retire.
Review cover: At every life stage (ideally 3 to 5 years), review your existing life cover and attune it to current needs. Over the period your personal circumstances, income, assets, liabilities would have gone through certain changes. So it's always good to review your requirements after 3 to 5 years.
Mind inflation: As living costs rise, so do insurance needs. Buy more or opt for a plan where the cover keeps increasing.
A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies
When buying a term life policy, it is best to go online with several life insurers now offering the online option for buying term policies. When buying online, the advantage is that you save on premium. Agent commission, which is a significant proportion of the cost associated with an insurance product, is not charged while buying policies online but is passed on as a discount to the buyers.Buy policy online: Term insurance products are also sold online and these products are much cheaper compared to ones sold by agents and brokers. Selling the products over the Internet does away with the agent's commission thus bringing down the overall cost of the policy.
In online policies however, one has to go through some minimum documentation work (and medical check-up too if required). But in simple steps, you can get a quote and apply for the policy on the insurer's website itself.
However, the premium on the policy should not be the only deciding factor here. The reputation of the insurer is also a key factor. For this you can check the insurer's 'claim settlement' ratio -- this is the percentage of claims settled by the insurer of the total s/he received.
The information on this is available at IRDA's website, in its annual report for 2009-10. The insurer with the highest claim paid ratio is Life Insurance Corporation (96.5 per cent), followed by HDFC Standard (91.1 per cent) and ICICI Prudential (90.2 per cent).

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

Disclose everything: Disclose everything to the best of your knowledge while buying the policy including your existing health conditions, family history and all existing and proposed insurance including details of any insurance policy refused or provided at higher than normal premium in the past.Don't be distracted by riders: Additional covers of accidental death and disability arising from accidents are available on standalone as well, so don't choose expensive term plan just because some of them have riders available.
Take medical tests: It will always be good for you to go for medical tests as this will reduce any chances of claim being rejected.
Consider buying policy in blocks: For instance , if you need a cover of Rs 1 crore -- you can buy two policies of Rs 50 lakh each as it provides flexibility to discontinue one policy should your insurance needs reduce over time. Of course it will attract slight additional premium but the flexibility makes the additional cost worth it.

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

Ensure that you read and answer all the questions correctly and accurately to the best of your knowledge.What you should make sure at time of buying the policy:
  • Ensure that you have disclosed all material facts to the Company. In case of any doubt as to whether a fact is material or not, the fact should always be disclosed.
  • Ensure that all the documents submitted by you (E.g. Age Proof, Income Proof etc) along with the proposal form are genuine
  • Go through the copy of your signed proposal form enclosed along with the policy document
  • Review and ensure that all the questions have been answered correctly and accurately to your best of knowledge
  • In case you come across any discrepancy, please consult with point of contact from insurance company
  • Online term plans where a customer buys the policy directly from the company are up to 35% cheaper than their offline versions. By removing the intermediary between customer and the company the world wide web has brought down the price of the cover
  • Term plans are especially beneficial for young people with dependents. Low premiums set you free to invest in high-growth instruments such as equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) initially, which also provide tax breaks

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

Agents are often not keen on selling term plans since they earn much less commission from them than, say, unit-linked plans (Ulips). Since term plans have no investment component, the lowest premium plan qualifies as the best. So be careful when you have approached a broker for insurance needs.Why insurance agents are not very keen to sell term plans
Make sure you don't shun pure life cover just because you won't get your money back. It is the best gift you can give to your dear ones. Get yourself 'Term Plan-ned' today and keep your investments and insurance separate.
A special note for youngsters in their 20s or early 30s
Working professionals in their 20s or early 30s must have received a call from and insurance company or an agent trying to sell its policy. Point is that insurance in the early years of professional life may sound a waste of money when other lifestyle and personal expenses takes priority. With a change in lifestyle of young professionals which includes long working hours, high stress levels, alarming rise in lifestyle related diseases like diabetes, obesity and cholesterol -- insuring oneself becomes as essential as other expenses.
Investing early in insurance will also help you save tax and instill in you the habit of saving and financial discipline that ensures peace of mind in long run. So, if you are a young professional and have not insured yourself yet, the next time you come across any material related to insurance, give it a serious thought.

A comprehensive guide to buying term insurance policies

From cost point of view, it makes sense to switch to low premium term plan product, given the possibility of savings on premium payable. You can use the money saved to invest in your existing investment portfolio. However it's not always advocated to dump the old policies.Term plans or existing life insurance policies
With the rising age, insurance premium also goes up which may in turn nullify or reduce the savings on the costs towards the premium. This is especially true if you are over 40 years of age since the premium rise is rather steep for that age bracket. If your existing policy also has a health rider, such as critical illness benefit attached to it, it is better to consider the change in premium for that benefit too.
Giving the limited experience on hand, the riders premium have not materially changed yet. With rising age, the premium payable towards a critical illness rider will also go up. It is better to check the actual total premium payable on the existing as well as new products and calculate the savings, if any, before you decide on to new product.
The second factor that is significant to consider is the state of health. If you are in a good health and can go through the battery of medical tests, you may consider buying a new term life insurance policy. Since term life insurance policies are high risk business compared with other investment oriented plans, underwriters are rather strict with the acceptance of risk.
With rising age, number of tests also goes up and if the buyer is not in good health , s/he may be charged extra premium or in some cases even denied cover. The worst thing to do is to let go an existing cover before the buyer gets a new policy in place.
Should you switch?
If you are sure that you don't want to continue with your existing policies, it is better to take a calculative decision. The first thing to do is to arrive at the amount of insurance you need. In few cases, it may make sense to run the existing policies till the time new policy is two years old. New policy may have some waiting period for certain benefits such as critical illness benefit typically has a waiting period of three to six months.
Last but not the least: do remember the decision of paying the claim rests entirely on the full disclosure of facts in good faith. There are many cases that have been decided by various competent courts in both the insurer and insured's favour. If you act in good faith and disclose all material facts known to you, insurance company will pay the claim. Better buy a term insurance plan for peace of mind and secure future of your family.
Steps to undertake in case of ending your existing covers:
(a)  Ascertain how much insurance you need
(b)  Find out the renewal dates of existing policies
(c)  Initiate the buying process much before the renewal dates of exiting policies
(d)  Check the rider benefits available with new products
(e)  Figure out the premium payable on the new policy
(f)  See if you will be saving on the total premium payable if you switch to new policy
(g)  Check if you are in a good health
(h)  Find out about medical tests required for the new policy
(i)   Buy the policy
(j)   Check the new policy document
(k)  Bring any deviation to the notice of the insurance company
(l)  Let the old policy run for some time to take care of the waiting period in the new policy

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Capture unbelievable jumbo size images

Don’t underestimate the diminutive camera in your phone. It can capture unbelievable jumbo size images. 

 

If we said we shot a 20 megapixel image with a camera phone, you’d think we were kidding. Yes, it’s impossible to capture an image that large with a phone in a single shot, but it’s possible to do it with multiple shots. If you’re into digital photography you might have probably guessed what we’re going to talk about in this hands-on session—it’s about capturing panoramas.
Shooting a panorama involves shooting segments of a large scene in a sequence and then stitching them together using an image stitching utility to get a single large image. While this technique is ideal for capturing landscapes and ultra-wide scenes that are impossible to capture in a single shot, you can even capture group photos with great details.
No doubt digital cameras deliver best results; we headed out with a camera phone and shot a picturesque landscape. And the results were astonishing! Here’s how we went about it.

Step 1: Get Autostitch
Autostitch can be downloaded for free from www.autostitch.net as a Zip archive (autostitch.zip). Extract the contents to a new folder on your hard drive. The software is a mere 1.4 MB in size after extraction. You can create a shortcut to the executable file on your Desktop or ‘Start menu | Programs’ for easy access.

Step 2: Shooting technique
Autostitch is the most easy-to-use and intelligent image stitching software  that we have got our hands on so far. It can automatically arrange and align the images captured in series and deliver seamless results. Autostitch is capable of handling a series of images captured in a variety of sequences, the number of pictures that Autostitch can handle is virtually limitless. The most commonly used sequence is the horizontal sequence in which the images of the scene are captured along the horizontal axis. This sequence is ideal for capturing scenes such as landscapes that are wide and impossible to capture in a single shot. You can even capture a vertical panorama, for instance a shot of a tall building, by capturing the series of images vertically starting from the top or bottom of the building. Autostitch can also handle sequences of images taken along a wavy path as shown in the image below. This is the most complex sequence and is ideal for shooting very large scenes.
While stitching the images, the image stitching software detects the edge of the next image which overlaps the edge of the current image and aligns the images accordingly. If there are no overlapping edges, the software won’t know how to align the images. So the basic rule is to make sure that around one-sixth of the current frame overlaps the next frame.

 

Step 3: Go out and shoot!
Start with this little exercise—go out with your phone and shoot a horizontal panorama. Shoot whatever you like, perhaps a view from your balcony or vehicles lined up at a traffic signal. You can capture a great panorama from the terrace of a tall apartment. If you’re hanging out with a group of friends, take a group shot, but not a single shot from a distance. Get closer and capture all the subjects in a series of shots, horizontally. Don’t forget the overlapping rule! If you’re too lazy to go out, you can experiment with the sample images that come included in the Zip archive. Carefully note the overlapping regions in the samples.

 

Step 4: Fire up Autostitch
Transfer the series of images you just shot to your PC in a new folder and then run Autostitch. Go to Edit and choose Option which is the only item listed in the menu. By default Autostitch scales the resultant panorama to 10 percent of its original size. Set the value to 100 percent to avoid resizing. If you have taken the images using the vertical frame (portrait orientation) you can set the option to rotate the images clockwise or anticlockwise. Finally set the JPEG quality to 100 to get the best image quality. Setting the quality to lower values will degrade the image quality. Don’t experiment with the other options as Autostitch does a neat job with the default settings. Click ‘OK’ to proceed.

Step 5: Time to stitch
After changing the options go to the File menu and click ‘Open’. Navigate to the folder where you transferred all the images from your phone. Select all the files and click on the ‘Open’ button to start the stitching process. This process is CPU intensive and you’ll have to wait patiently until the final image is displayed on your screen. The final result is saved as pano.jpg in the folder containing the images you transferred from your phone.

Step 6: Final touches
The final image will not be a perfect rectangle and may have black patches along some of the borders and corners. You can use IrfanView or Photoshop to crop the panorama and eliminate the redundant areas, or you can leave the image the way it is, if it looks artistic to you. Looks good? Bet it does!

Network On Demand

Network On Demand
Manually keying in network settings can be pretty annoying, particularly when you need to do it every day. CHIP shows you how to switch between networks with ease.

You must have come across situations which require you to change your network settings on your laptop manually every time you move between your home and office. For example, let’s say that your job requires you to attend meetings at your branch office in Delhi every few weeks. In Delhi you will connect to the Internet through the office proxy, while you might also connect through your cellphone when on the move. So by now you have four sets of IP address settings to memorize: home, office, Delhi and cellphone.

Remembering so many settings is a tough task; you would rather have it written on a piece of paper instead. But that still requires you to manually change the settings each time you move from one place to another, which is quite a pain. But why choose to do it in several steps when the same can be achieved in two clicks? Let’s show you how to set up multiple IPs using NetSetMan.

Before we start setting up NetSetMan, let’s note the IP address, subnet mask and the default gateway that will need to be fed in. Once done, follow these four simple steps.

Step 1

Download and install the software from  www.netsetman.com. Once installed,
run the program. It should bring you to a screen like the one shown above.
Here you can specify
six different settings for your network adapter, while you also have the option
of switching between different adapters (wired or wireless) if your laptop has
that many installed.

 

Step 2

Select ‘SET 1’ from the six tabs on top. Right click on the tab and rename it to
‘Home’. Select the required network adapter from the dropdown menu. Check
the ‘IP’ option and select ‘Use the following IP address’. Feed in your IP address,
Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS (if required). You can do the same
for the other three profiles with their individual settings.


 


Step 3

You can now change your IP settings on the fly by selecting any one of the
four profiles created, either by bringing up the main menu or right-clicking
on the ‘NetSetMan’ icon in the taskbar and then selecting the desired profile.

You can even back up these settings by selecting ‘Options | Export profile
and settings’. While it acts as a backup, it also gives you the flexibility of
having more than just six profiles. Additionally, you can assign a PC name,
Workgroup name and even assign a default printer to the selected profile.

Another point worth mentioning is the ‘Tools’ menu. One can access the
Network Connections, Network Environments as well as Internet Options
dialog boxes directly, saving you the need to navigate through the Start
menu repeatedly. 

 

Create your own bootable USB pen drive in just four easy steps.

Create your own bootable USB pen drive in just four easy steps.

Netbooks have made their mark in the PC segment and are here to stay. What makes them worth the buy is the unquestionable portability that they offer over their laptop counterparts. They are small, light and are definitely easy to lug around. They might not have the processing power to execute intensive tasks but will easily handle office applications. Moreover some of them are even capable of playing high definition video which makes them decent all rounders. That said, these little entertainment boxes have one major drawback in them: the exclusion of an optical drive. No doubt that files can be transferred via pen drives but what if the need arises to reinstall the Operating System in case of a system crash or if the requirement is to install the new Windows 7? What then? Would you spend money on a new external DVD-RW or would you prefer upgrading or re-installing via a pen drive? Well, for most of us the obvious choice would be the pen drive.

There are a number of ways in which to create your own bootable pen drive but we are going to show you the easiest way. To begin with you will need a PC with a CD/DVD ROM drive, the Windows CD/DVD, and a 2GB pen drive if you are creating a Windows XP bootable USB or a 4GB pen drive if the requirement is for Windows Vista/7. To start with, download and extract the program “WinToFlash”. Once extracted execute the file called “WinToFlash” and follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Click the 'Windows Setup transfer wizard' and select 'Next'.

Step 2: Here you will need to define two paths where the 'Windows File Path' points to the location of the Windows installation disk and the 'USB Drive' specifies the location of pen drive that will be used for creating the bootable installation routine. Click on 'Select' and choose an appropriate path for both.

Step 3: Accept the 'Windows License Agreement' and click on continue.

Step 4: Don’t panic! The 'Warning' is just to remind you that the pen drive will be formatted before proceeding. Click 'OK' to proceed or 'Cancel' in case you inserted the wrong pen drive or want to check it.

That’s all that needs to be done to be able to create a bootable Windows installation pen drive. To be able to boot from the pendrive you will need to access the BIOS and change the boot priority to 'Removable disk'. If the settings are right you will be able to boot and proceed with the installation of Windows. 

Security Redefined

Security Redefined
Make your drive virtually unhackable by enabling TPM on your machine.

We all know how easy it is for snoopers to get their hands on private and confidential data. That’s the main reason we need to constantly refine our security policies to keep confidential data safe. While there are many software applications that will do the job they could be easy to crack; at least for a seasoned hacker. That’s not the only reason to be worried. Imagine losing your laptop or even your portable drive which contains important data.

What we are referring to is hardware based encryption rather than the more common software based methods. To begin with you will need a PC with a motherboard that has an embedded TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip. So before we even get into the intricacies of setting up the encryption system, let’s go a little further and understand the basic functionality of a TPM based motherboard.

In very simple terms, a TPM chip basically generates random encryption keys where half of the key is stored within the chip and is encrypted/decrypted using an incredibly strong 2048-bit RSA algorithm. This essentially makes it impossible to recover data from the encrypted drive, making it unique to the machine that was used for encryption. In other words, the contents of a protected drive are unreadable when connected to another machine or read by any unauthorized person.

Before we start, make sure that your motherboard or laptop has the Trusted Platform Module chip. Refer to the manual to confirm this. If it does you will need to make sure it is enabled in the BIOS. Before we progress further make doubly sure that you have not already encrypted any files using this method. If the user information is ever cleared, encrypted files will become inaccessible. Please do back up any protected files first! We also suggest backing up important data before proceeding.

Start your machine and press the [Delete] key to get access to the BIOS. For laptops it should either be the [F12] or the [F8] key. Search for the term “Security Chip Configuration” or a similar title and press [Enter]. Now select “Enabled” for the Security Chip and move to “Clear Security Chip”. Once the user information has been cleared save changes to the BIOS by pressing [F10], and restart.

Once you have logged into Windows install the TPM driver (check your motherboard CD/DVD) and restart again. This workshop uses a Gigabyte board that had an Infineon TPM chip. If you have a different chip note that the steps will be a little different, so excercise caution and check all options first.

Activating the TPM chip

Step 1: Bring up the “Infineon Platform Security wizard” by double clicking on the TPM icon. Click “Next” and select “Security Platform Initialization”. On proceeding you will need to feed in a password to initialize the process. Consider this to be your master password as you will need it whenever you want to make global changes.

Step 2: The Features menu allows you to choose three basic options such as “Automatic Backups”, “Password reset” and “BitLocker Drive Encryption”. We suggest you use the “Automatic backup” and “Password reset” features. Click on “Next” and choose your backup location. You can also reschedule your backup if the default time is not convenient. Clicking on Next will take you to the “Password Reset” menu. Make sure “Create a new Token” is selected and choose a file location. Here it is advisable to save the token to a portable drive rather than the hard drive. Enter the password and click on “Next”. The wizard should now be ready to start initializing the TPM chip. Run an automatic backup once the wizard has initialized the chip.
   
User Initialization Wizard

Step 3: Double clicking the TPM icon will now bring up the User Initialization Wizard; choose “Next”. You will be asked to feed in your “Basic User Key”. This allows you to make user specific changes. On proceeding you will again be asked to create a Basic User Password reset key. We again recommend saving it to a pen drive. Confirm the setting and click on Next to initialize the setting for the user.

Step 4: The next couple of steps will allow you to enable and disable features such as “Encrypting File System” and “Personal Secure Drive”. On the Security Platform Features menu uncheck the “Secure e-mail” while keeping EFS and PSD checked before proceeding.

Step 5: To create an encryption certificate click on “Select” and choose “Create”. Select the created certificate and hit “Select”. You should now be able to view the certificate that was chosen. The next step allows you to create your own secure hidden drive.

Step 6: Map your drive to any one of the alphabets in the dropdown menu and give your new hidden drive a name. Leave the “Load my Personal Secure Drive at logon” option unchecked and click on “Next”. Decide on the amount of storage space that you want to assign to the secure drive. Now choose an existing drive where this virtual drive will actually reside. Make sure that the drive that’s chosen has enough free space to allocate. Click on Next and enter your basic user password following which the wizard starts configuring the features selected. Click Finish and you are all set to secure your files and folders.

You can load and unload your protected drive by simply right clicking on the TPM icon and navigating to “Personal Secure Drive | Load/Unload”. You can choose to either copy or send files and folders to your secure drive by simply right clicking and selecting the appropriate option.
  
Bitlocker Drive Encryption

For people who don’t own a TPM based motherboard or laptop there is yet another way of securing your valuable data. Windows itself comes with a utility known as BitLocker Drive Encryption. This feature can only be found in the Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (Windows 7 comes with Bitlocker To Go for portable drives as well). This feature was designed to make use of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, but there is a way to work around this if you don't have one.

Follow the instructions carefully and back up your system before proceeding. Keep in mind that the Bitlocker Drive Encryption is designed to encrypt an entire partition or volume. Also the time taken to encrypt the entire drive depends on the overall size.

Step 1: Open the start menu and type “Group Policy” in the search box. Now in the Local Computer Policy window navigate to “Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | BitLocker Drive Encryption | Operating System Drives”. Right click on “Require additional authentication at startup” and click “Edit”.

Step 2: On the opened page select “Enabled” under “Require additional authentication at startup” and under options check “Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM”. Once checked other options will automatically change; ignore the automated changes. After you have enabled it to start without a compatible TPM chip, click on Apply and exit the Group Policy editor. The above process basically enables BitLocker but without its full range of effectiveness.

Step 3: To enable BitLocker you will need to search for a file named “BitLocker”. Open the Windows Vista or Windows 7 start menu and type “BitLocker” in the search bar. Run the program “BitLocker Drive Encryption”. You should now be able to view all drives currently connected to your system. Select the drive that you want to encrypt and click “Turn on BitLocker”.

Step 4: Now select “Use a password to unlock the device” and type in your password. Further on you will be asked to “Save the recovery key to a file”. Save the file either to the hard disk or a portable pen drive to proceed. The recovery key is now your only option to able to access your device in case you forget the password. Once you are done click “Start Encrypting”.

Note: Do not save your recovery key on the same drive that is being encrypted else you will not be able to unlock the device in case you forget the password!

Your drive now cannot be accessed without the right password, even if stolen and connected to a new PC. You can change or remove the password as well as save/print a recovery key again via the BitLocker menu.