Files on USB drive damaged through BitLocker

I recently got a case that a user put in a USB drive while starting the BitLocker of the hard encryption...
and put it out while the encryption was running and caused in interesting scenario...

Some folders were untouched, but other folders turned into files without appendix. BitLocker created now recovery key for these folders as I checked.

I gave it one attempt with TestDisk to recover these files, interestingly, the drive was splitted in three partitions - the user had only time for checking one - but as a result several chk files were visible. But looking at the file sizes it did not seemed like the files I was looking for.

Following that I found a tool called deCHK to convert these chk files into the correct files they were supposed to be. However the tool only find 2 txt files - not worth to mention.

The user gave up further attempts, but out of curiosity: Would it have been possible to recover such files? Or rather difficult? An extra BitLocker recovery tool needed? 

In case of certain experiences with similar cases, just let me know how your cases turned out. Would be interesting to know.

Downloaded PS2 savegames and ULaunchElf

So you want to play a PS2 game with everything unlocked, but you don't wanna go through the whole game again - luckily the Internet is filled with savegames. But how can you use them?

When you go through the Internet you'll find savegames in the following formats: 

xps, psu, max, pws, sps

But when you start ULaunchElf and check the Memory Card you'll find out that every savegame has its own folder with a few files included. So you'll have to extract the files and copy them in such a folder.

For doing that you need this tool: PS2 Save Converter

Using the tool itself is quite easy: 

1) Extract the savegame file

Open the tool, select your savegame and then you'll see three files listed below. Right-click each one and select 'Extract File'.

One of these files has an ID like in my case BASLUS-21678DBZT3. It's DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

2) Copy extracted files

Create a new folder and copy all the files in it. Rename the folder to the same name as the ID of the game. Now you can copy the folder to an USB drive and start your PS2.

3) Copy savegame folder to your Memory Card

Open the homebrew tool ULaunchElf, connect your USB drive and select 'Mass'. Copy the savegame folder, go to your Memory Card and select 'McPaste'. Copying will take a few second, it's still USB 1.1.

4) Check and start the game

Reboot your PS2 and go to 'Browser' to check if you can see the savegame icon in your Memory Card. If so, start your game and your files will be loaded.

Seven things WhatsApp should improve in 2016 and beyond

WhatsApp is getting more and more users and the app has experienced a lot of improvement over the years, but there's still room for more - and these are my thoughts about what can be done and about features which are likely already in the making...

1: A better backup

I liked that they included the backup in the cloud like with Google Drive on Android devices. But unfortunately you can't see the database copy after opening the cloud folder, because it's hidden.

On the other hand you can simply just copy the database from the phone with USB, but you can't use it anywhere else. A (secured) way to open it on the computer would be great - for example something like a 'WhatsApp Database Manager', where you can add old chat histories to the current one or extracting a specific year from the database. Just a better way to manage it.

2: Video calling

Applications like Skype or FaceTime on Apple devices show how it's done. Even Facebook included it for a while. After the Whats App phone calls were introduced last year it's known that video calls will probably be added in the future.
In my view WhatsApp has a big advantage comparing to other applications: Most of the users want it simple and that's surely a part of the success of WhatsApp: No email registration and it just works with the phone number. Via Skype for example you have to find a Skype name and so on. In the 'green messenger' it'd be just one button more and the ordinary user doesn't need much explanation. That's why I fear WhatsApp video calls can be a threatening thing for the Skype phone apps...

3: More independent from the phone

The introduction of WhatsApp Web was a way in the right direction. With this new feature you are now able to use the messenger from a web browser, but it's still depending from the smartphone because it needs internet connection.
Anyway, it's a huge advantage if you want to sent files which are only found on your computer via WhatsApp. You don't have to photograph something on your PC - you can actually send it.
But I think in the future it should be less depending from the phone. For example like having the opportunity to log in via email and use it from any place. What about using the WhatsApp app on multiple devices like?
Ok, the account should still be connected with the phone number, just for having an alternate way to log in. There'll be cases where you can't use the WhatsApp-depending phone number.
Example: You know you are in a foreign country for like two months and you just want to use a prepaid card there. Now everyone needs your number, instead you were able to just add the new number to your account and communicate like before. Ok, you can convert your account to the 'new' number, but than it's just connected with that number.
Long story short: One account and the opportunity to log in via multiple ways:
Your email address, your phone number, your temporary phone number. Or even Facebook (see below).

4: Sending more different file types

WhatsApp is still limited in terms of which kind of files can be sent. Like PDFs can't be transferred at all or pictures will be comprized in a lower resolution. Both examples show room for improvement. So: Adding an option for document files would be nice- same goes for Office stuff like docx or xlsx. And about sending pictures in higher resolution they can keep the current way as standard but adding the option to sent in full resolution via checkbox would be a cool thing.
Another example: You can't sent video files properly via WhatsApp Web, you had to copy them to phone and sent them that way. Could have been easier, but WhatsApp Web is still young... :)

5: WhatsApp chat within Facebook

Many people were concerned by the time it was announced that Facebook would buy WhatsApp in terms of data privacy. Since then the user couldn't see much difference and it didn't actually happen that much. But I expect that Facebook and WhatsApp will slowly merge! Things like selecting an image in WhatsApp and an appearing option like"Share it on Facebook". Or seeing the Facebook name in the WhatsApp account information and vice versa. Will it that be wished and can give us advantages? I think at first lots of people will complain but are going to continue using it anyway. I already see the benefit of using WhatsApp as an alternate way to chat and sent things within Facebook which would be WhatsApp Web unnecessary.Will it replace the Facebook Messenger? Maybe after WhatsApp had a successful introduction of alternate ways to log in and both account information have eventually merged...

6: Better chat history export

Currently you can export the chat history as a simple txt-file via email. It's pretty colorless comparing to the app with all the different smiley badges. The images are added in the attachment of the mail.
There are third party apps where you can get a proper export as an html files, which are of course way better. But for that you have to root your phone and you need the database in a preferable older version - the current one should be in the crypt9-format. For the usual user impossible. Anyway, I hope that they are going to add this html export option soon.

7: Advanced options for Chat groups

Groups of WhatsApp chats are a great way to communicate with multiple people in a closed area, but it becomes a problem if it's overused and you have to go back to a specific date to find something - there's no clear structure. I'd like to have an option where you can select a month or even a date to go back. By now it takes a lot of time scrolling. And how about working with hashtags? Twitter started it and other platforms like Instagram or Facebook also use it by now. It would be revolutionary for WhatsApp, but it could improve searching for special messages. Also, how would it be to make polls in WhatsApp groups? For certain things, you don't have to write an answer - just select an answer about e.g. 'Who'd like to go to the cinema on Sunday night?'

What are your thoughts about these improvements? Which kind of things you'd like to change or add? Or would you prefer to keep it as it is? Let me know in the comments.

WiFi connection problems with TP Link TL-WN823N

After the first time using the TP Link wifi stick WN823N it worked for a whole evening. But the next day a WiFi connection was suddenly no longer possible...

After a few tests with different USB ports and another reboot failed to solve this issue I thought:

'The last reinstallation of this Windows 7 PC was at the beginning of last year and I already should have done it weeks ago. So let's do this first and the problem might be solved in the same step.'

Interestingly, I was right, but only for like thirty seconds. The same issue occured once again and didn't disappear. Maybe I should explain more detailed what happened:

The WiFi signal was always perfect as it should be. But every connection attempt failed - it didn't make a difference when I used the TP Link configuration tool.

But the WiFi stick was still fine as I tested with an Windows 8.1 laptop. So I installed an extra USB port on the mainboard and the issue still remained. The firmware hasn't been updated for a longer time - so that's not it...

Finally I decided to change the WiFi encryption on the router from WPA with TKIP (which I used for testing reasons) to WPA2 with CCMP.

And then all of the sudden: Issue solved! I deleted the old WiFi settings in Windows, reconnect with the WiFi, typed in the PSK and it was working.

But that was only for a day and it happened again. After checking the event log it couldn't have been much simpler: Several hard disk failures! 

So I installed Windows on another hard disk again and these problems didn't occur another time.