05-18-2004, 11:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Real-Time Compression From StackDriver
I recently came across an interesting-looking auto-compression utility for the Pocket PC: StackDriver.
"StackDriver is a Storage Compression Utility. It compresses and decompress your files automatically, for example, when you want to use a file, StackDriver decompresses it as an ordinary file, and when you want to save or store a file, StackDriver automatic compress it to safe your memory space! The only problem with ordinary compression programs is that you use it to compress or decompress data manually. StackDriver is the first Windows CE based compression utility designed to make it easiest to work with compressed data."
The StackDriver site has many different versions, optimzied for many of today's most popular Pocket PC models, so if you want to take StackDriver for a spin, be sure to grab the right version.
And now, the bad news...There are no demo versions available, and the price is $29.99. That price is significantly higher than what I'm willing to pay for all but the most impressive applications, so I don't think I'll take the plunge UNLESS somebody out there can give me a pretty good recommendation. Anyone?...Anyone?
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05-18-2004, 12:23 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 485
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I think I would rather purge a few documents/applications if I found myself short of space, or put the $30 towards a bigger storage card.
The biggest value of a Pocket PC is the ubiquity - your data and applications are always there, always with you. Adding a layer of uncertainty to that is not for me, if this driver fails in some way, even if this is a remote possibility, then my data is at risk. It might even get syncced back to my desktop before I noticed something was wrong!
Maybe some less timid soul will try it and report back...
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05-18-2004, 12:30 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 141
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I recommend you get yourself a review copy and hit two birds with one stone :devilboy:
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05-18-2004, 01:44 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 980
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The point is that the author does not answer any email. In another hand in more than 2 weeks that we have been checking that software from BH forum we have not been able to find anyone that have bought this program. I tried to post a review at Handango saying about the bad habit of this author of not replying to emails... but you know how Handango works  ... I even send an email to Handango pointing them to our thread at BH and the fact that we all there thought that it was a scam. But not answer either.
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05-18-2004, 03:35 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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This reminds of when "DoubleSpace" first hit PCs. It was a great on-the-fly compression utility but mysteriously you'd discover that applications and/or games that worked before would start to behave in strange ways.
As mentioned by another poster, I'm not sure I want to introduce another layer of uncertainty onto my PDA.
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05-18-2004, 03:57 PM
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,998
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I agree with the sentiments here. I remember trying something similar on my old Mac LC waaay back. It caused more stability issues than it was worth. Add in the fact that it's $30 and no trial!
Pass...
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05-18-2004, 04:31 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 330
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I remember those old progs like disk doubler on the Mac but that was way back when storage was limited and file loading was slow.
I agree buying an extra large memory card should do the trick and also be nice and quick.
Anyway if you really need to you could always zip or tar your files.
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05-18-2004, 05:08 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 323
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This is the perfect example of why developers DO offer review copies and demos. He will lose many sales due to this. :|
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05-19-2004, 08:29 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 383
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This all hassle reminds me of a program that some wise cracker programmed for Amiga back in the early nineties. If I recall correctly it was called Gzuz.
The witty "idea" was to introduce the JPEG type of lossy packing method to the normal data use. The program compressed all data very efficiently, it even packed zipped archives to 50% of their original size. It also managed to uncompress the files from the archive back to their original size.
No need to tell you that none of the programs worked afterwards when packed with a "lossy" method and then "reconstructed" afterwards. So, bad luck there if you had deleted the original files
/jizmo
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05-19-2004, 09:35 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 11
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Had you read FAQ on StackDriver web-page?
Q. How do I remove StackDriver from my Pocket PC ?
1. Run the preun.exe.....
some instructions and, finally the effect:
5. Everything will remove from your Pocket PC completely.
Everything means "all your files", right? :lol:
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Linear Mode
