Topics

1

Non-Windows Software / Possible to dual boot via boot priority swapping?

« on: January 15, 2021, 09:53 AM »

I recently got back into linux. I have an old laptop that I am using as a dedicated linux box, however, I just upgraded my desktop to a motherboard that has two m.2 slots. So my question is, would I run into any problems if I were to buy a second m.2 sata drive, temporarily remove my windows m.2, install linux onto my second m.2, and then install both m.2 drives back into the computer? I would then go into the bios and select which drive I want to boot into as the first boot option. I was planning on doing this instead of the typical dual boot method, because in the past, that caused problems when I decided to remove linux, and go back to just single booting windows. I also don't want to run linux in a virtual machine.

2

General Software Discussion / Fastest/Easiest HDD to HDD transfer?

« on: June 24, 2020, 07:51 AM »

So I have a smallish ssd as my boot drive, so I use a larger HDD to install all my apps to. Well that drive is about to crap its pants (about to die), so I have a new drive that should be arriving today. I was going to put two partitions on said new drive, and wanted to move all of my installed apps to one of the new partitions. I then was going to remove the old drive, and change the drive letter of the new partition to that of the old drive that is about to die. So my question is, what would be the easiest method to achieve this, preferably without having to uninstall all the apps from the old drive, and reinstall them on the new drive? The old drive is a 2TB drive and the new drive is a 6TB (being split into two 3TB partitions) if that info is needed.

3

Living Room / Looking for "Smart"watch Recommendations

« on: March 06, 2019, 10:52 AM »

Hey DC community! So I'm looking for a smartwatch to replace my LG watch urbane 2. (it looks nice, but doesn't do the primary function I want it for very well) I put smart in quotations in the title, because the watch really doesn't have to be super smart.
All I am really looking for is a cheap watch with the following:
1. Good battery life (At least one full day, I charge my oneplus 6t every day when I go to bed, so I don't have a problem with charging my watch every day too, but would like it more if the watch could last 2+ days)
2. Vibrate when I get a notification on my phone (android), and then let me view the notification. (my urbane 2 doesn't vibrate when I get a new notification, and when my phone is on vibrate, most of the time I don't feel it vibrate in my pocket.
3. (This one is 100% optional, but would be a nice to have feature) A heart rate monitor and accurate step counter (I work in retail, and walk around the store all night, and am curious how many steps I take a night).

TLDR: I'm looking for a smartwatch that won't murder my bank, has good battery life, and that will let me view my phone's notifications without having to take it out of my pocket.
I literally only use my current watch to view my phone's notifications without having to take it out of my pocket. (which it doesn't do a good job)

I've been looking at the fitbit versa, however I have never used a fitbit device before, and have no experience with the OS. However, the youtube videos that I have watched makes the watch seem like its not a bad watch.

4

Living Room / Any way to detect and block spoofed phone numbers?

« on: April 19, 2018, 11:23 AM »

So I've been getting a ton of calls where the area code, and the first 3 digits are the same as my phone number. I know that these are scammers spoofing their number so that it looks similar to my number in the hopes that I will be dumb enough to think that it may be someone that I know. I have a non rooted (and most likely won't ever be able to, thanks samsung) android phone. Is there some app or something that I can install that can detect a spoofed number, and block the call?

5

Living Room / Looking for alternative for wallet.

« on: September 10, 2017, 10:20 AM »

Right now I have a regular bifold leather wallet. It gets the job done, but I just ran across this small Magic the Gathering 30 card deck box ( I think its like a promo box or something.) I don't usually carry cash, just cards. Including my driver's license, I have 12 cards (which admittedly, I don't need some of the cards). I like how small the box is, and it holds all 12 of the cards perfectly, with a little extra room left (if I wanted to carry some cash I suppose.) I can fit it comfortably in the same pocket that I keep my phone in.(Note 8 ), and I can also keep it in the pocket that I keep my wifi hotspot in(a bulky, weather resistant at&t one). I can't do that with my actual wallet, because it is too bulky. The only thing I don't like about this box, is it is made of cardboard, and I'm pretty sure that after one night at work (I'm an overnight stocker at a retail store) the box will most likely be a crushed and beat up. So those of you that are still with me here, what I am looking for is something similar to this small box that is either made of plastic, fabric, or leather (doesn't have to be real leather.) It also doesn't have to be an actual wallet with individual slots for each card. I just want something small that I can keep in my front pocket with my hotspot, so I am no longer sitting on a bulky wallet.

this is what the box looks like, however mine is blue, and has different artwork on it.

6

General Software Discussion / Trying to create Steam game shortcuts with AHK

« on: April 06, 2017, 12:18 AM »

I ran across a tutorial to create shortcuts that can be pinned to the windows 10 start menu for steam games without using third party apps.
I wanted to automate this process using AutoHotKey, however when I get to the part where the script actually creates the shortcut, it creates a shortcut with a blank file location.
the file location has to be "%windir%\explorer.exe steam://rungameid/1234"
in my script, I am using

[Select]

FileCreateShortcut, explorer.exe steam://rungameid/%Sname%, %Gname%.lnk,,,,%IcoLoco%

which creates a shortcut with a blank file location.
Is there any way that I can get this to work? I only know how to code in AHK, so switching to a different program language isn't an option for me, because I rarely make apps, so I don't really want to learn a whole new language just for one simple app.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

7

General Software Discussion / Looking for personal trading card database

« on: July 16, 2016, 07:03 PM »

My friend and I play Magic the Gathering together. I have a small collection of cards, and would like to create a searchable database of the cards I have. I am looking for either something I can run off my website (Most likely using php and mysql), or some type of program that I can run on my windows vps, that I can browse via my android phone/tablet using either the browser, or a dedicated app. I'd like to have a spot to enter various details about the card. (the more the better, eg. Name, Set, mana cost, card text, number I have, etc.) I've seen various websites that already do this, but I have a windows vps that I am not using for a whole lot, and want to host my own collection, instead of having to rely on some other site.

8

Non-Windows Software / Android Google Messenger Playing Two Notification Sounds

« on: April 05, 2016, 08:02 PM »

I recently switched back to the Google Messenger app on my phone (Nexus 6p), and have a custom notification for new messages set in the app. However, any time I get a new sms/mms, first the system wide default notification sound plays(which is different from what I have set in Messenger), and then the custom notification sound I have set in the app plays. Any idea why this is happening, and how to go about fixing it?

Edit: thanks for all the help, but I just rebooted my phone, and now everything is working perfectly again.

9

Non-Windows Software / Idea for decluttered android twitter app

« on: January 23, 2016, 10:40 PM »

I have a twitter account, buy hardly use it, because every time I open the app on my phone, I just see a giant list of 150+ new tweets. I just finished organizing all the people I follow in to lists, however if one person tweets like there is no tomorrow, then I'll get bombarded with their tweets, and miss the other people in that list.

What I am looking for is either an app that already does what I am about to describe, or someone willing to code this app, as I only know a little AHK, and nothing else.

I want an app that will show me all the lists in my account, and then I can tap one, and it would open it like you would open a folder in windows explorer. It would then show a grid (or list if the user prefers) of all the people in that list with an unread count next to them. You would then tap on the person who's tweets you would like to look at, and it would show a timeline of just their tweets (and maybe retweets (user choice maybe?))

I don't know if this is even possible, given how restricted twitter's api rate limits are.

10

Living Room / Looking to upgrade gaming pc, suggestions?

« on: January 21, 2016, 05:15 PM »

My current gaming pc is getting kind of old, and I am looking to upgrade it. I can't afford anything super high end, so I will be reusing some of my current parts. For example, I will be reusing my gtx 770.



I have attached a gpu-z screenshot of my gpu.
Here is the parts I have picked out. (I didn't actually pick them out. I found someone else's build, and removed everything I didn't need.)
Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (because the cpu doesn't come with a stock cooler, and I don't plan to overclock.)
Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Thermaltake Chaser A31 ATX Mid Tower Case

I have three 1080p monitors, and have no desire to upgrade to 4k monitors any time soon.
I currently have a core i5-2310 2.90GHz with 8GB of ram.

So my question is, will the parts I have selected give me good gaming performance with my gtx 770?
I play games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim, though I intend to buy newer games as they come out. (just don't know of any right now.)

Would my gtx 770 be a bottleneck to the i7-6700K? (Or vice versa?) Or would they play nice together?

11

General Software Discussion / Chrome extension to hide Youtube thumbnails?

« on: November 04, 2015, 10:10 AM »

I was watching a Youtube video where the person was talking about the things that popular Youtubers go through to make their videos. One of those things was making the thumbnail, which got me thinking. Youtube thumbnails are no longer useful. Popular Youtubers make custom thumbnails for their videos that don't relate to the video. (For the most part anyway). I'm looking for either a Chrome extension, or a Tampermonkey (Greasemonkey for chrome) script (provided I can get that to even work properly) that will remove all the thumbnails on every video on youtube, and replace them with the channel's profile picture. I no longer even pay attention to video thumbnails now, since most of them are just some random image that is supposed to make you want to watch that video.

12

Living Room / block private numbers from leaving voicemail?

« on: May 06, 2015, 06:24 PM »

I'm on at&t, and I have YouMail setup as my phone's voicemail service. Starting a few days ago, I've been getting voice mails in my at&t visual voicemail app from a private number. They aren't calling me, just directly leaving a voicemail. Is there any way to stop them from being able to leave voice mails?

13

Living Room / Looking for good cheap car stereo with bluetooth

« on: March 18, 2015, 01:14 AM »

I'm looking to replace my current car stereo with a slightly better one. My current one has bluetooth built in, so that I can have my android phone (note 4) in my pocket, and stream google play music to my car stereo. The problem is, it takes about half a minute to connect to my phone (is that normal for car stereos? this is my first bluetooth equipped one.) Also, half the time, when my phone does finally connect, music won't start playing, and I have to turn the stereo off and back on again to get it to work. (its not my phone, because it also did this with my nexus 5.) (I have an app on my phone that opens play music whenever it connects to my car.) Then I also have a problem where it will sometimes pause after each song, so I have to hit the pause button on the stereo after each song to get it to play again. This isn't a bug, but something that I don't really like, but the display is rather tiny, so it only shows a tiny bit of the title of the current song playing, and then slowly scrolls the title across the screen.

I have a 2005 Pontiac Grand Am 3.4L V6 4 door sedan car.

So what I am looking for, is:
1. Built in Bluetooth audio streaming (don't care if it does bluetooth calls or not. I almost never make or receive calls anyway.)
2. Preferably a screen that shows the artist and title of the current song being played.
3. Not too expensive. (I paid $99 for my current one. I only have a part time job that pays $7.50/hr.)
  3a. Preferably about $150 or less. (yeah, I know this kind of limits it a lot.)

I could settle for one that streams Google Play Music from my phone via usb only if it has requirement 2.
The more I think about it, I suppose I don't have to have bluetooth, I just like not having to pull my phone out of my pocket, and plugging it into my car every time I get in.

I've been looking on crutchfield.com, and can't really find a whole lot. Not really sure where else online to look. (is amazon a good place to buy car stereos?)

14

Non-Windows Software / Looking for a good Android launcher

« on: December 04, 2014, 02:12 AM »

I'm in search of a new launcher for my android phone. I'm looking for some specific things in this launcher.
1.I'd like the app tray to be organized in folders kind of like how they are organized in the aviate launcher.
2.I'd like to have a global search option like in the everythingme launcher. (start typing and it searches for music, contacts, apps, etc.)
3.Not a deal breaker by any means (and really don't expect to have this feature), but I would like to be able to place an app on my homescreen, and then swipe up from the app, and display a widget like in the action launcher.

App tray(Aviate launcher)

App search(everythingme launcher)

(BONUS)Swipe up widgets(action launcher)

I kind of like everythingme, because of it's smart folders on the desktop (the wallpaper changes to the subject of the folder), but it auto populates the folders, so I won't be able to remember which folder my apps are in. (though, I guess that is fixable by using the find feature, and just start typing in the name of the app)

As an alternative to the above features, does anyone know of any fancy launchers with cool features? I have a note 4, so my phone should be able to handle all the bells and whistles of the launcher.

15

Non-Windows Software / Android: looking for good/working way to text from computer

« on: November 07, 2014, 09:30 PM »

As the title suggests, I'm looking for a good way (that actually works) to send and receive sms and mms from my computer. I spend most of my time at home sitting in front of my computer, so why not be able to text from my computer. So far I have tried Airdroid, which kind of worked, but wouldn't display picture messages, and I have also tried mightytext, but its kind of bugy, and half the time won't show my messages in the web interface.

16

Living Room / Looking for new windows media center remote.

« on: September 11, 2014, 03:09 PM »

I currently have this media center remote. It apparently emulates keyboard keystrokes, because I have a samsung galaxy tab 3 7.0" tablet with the IR port on it. There is an option to control windows media center with the tablet, but I guess my remote isn't compatible with this. Also, for whatever reason, the play, pause, stop, and fastforward/rewind buttons no longer seem to want to work on my remote. (I haven't plugged the receiver into a different computer yet to see if it works on that computer yet). So what I am looking for is a windows media center remote that will let me use my tablet (or my note 4 whenever it is released, and I get it), or maybe something else down the road such as Logitech's Harmony remotes (are they any good?).

I bought a "Microsoft Media Center RC6 iR Remote Control Kit w/Receiver Cable" from ebay, but the seller hasn't shipped it yet. He sent me a message saying that he couldn't find the remote, but asked if I still wanted just the receiver. Would that receiver do the job?

As always, thanks for the help. I love how helpful the DC community has been in answering my many questions. You guys rock!

Edit: I guess I will find out if this microsoft remote will work. The guy found the remote, and is shipping it out in the morning.

17

General Software Discussion / Any Ideas whats causing the Kernelbase.dll error?

« on: August 08, 2014, 02:23 PM »

I just installed the sims 4 create a sim demo, and every time I try to open it, it pops up with window's cryptic, unhelpful error messages.

Problem Event Name:   APPCRASH
  Application Name:   TS4CAS.exe
  Application Version:   1.0.233.190
  Application Timestamp:   02003040
  Fault Module Name:   KERNELBASE.dll
  Fault Module Version:   6.3.9600.17055
  Fault Module Timestamp:   532943a3
  Exception Code:   c0000005
  Exception Offset:   00012b82
  OS Version:   6.3.9600.2.0.0.256.48
  Locale ID:   1033
  Additional Information 1:   5861
  Additional Information 2:   5861822e1919d7c014bbb064c64908b2
  Additional Information 3:   d1d9
  Additional Information 4:   d1d94a13d3609d6b740644c12508f581

Does any of that make sense to anyone? I did a little research before posting here, and a few others have this issue too. One suggested uninstalling, and then reinstalling it, which did nothing for me.
Someone also suggested that it might be due to a corrupt user profile, so I created a brand new local admin profile, and had the same issue with that profile.

I'm running windows 8.1 pro x64. My computer also more than meets the system requirements for the demo. I'd really like to get this problem fixed, because I already pre-ordered the sims 4 several months ago, and I don't want to have the same thing happen to it.

edit: just looked in the event viewer.

Faulting application name: TS4CAS.exe, version: 1.0.233.190, time stamp: 0x02003040
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.3.9600.17055, time stamp: 0x532943a3
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00012b82
Faulting process id: 0x1cac
Faulting application start time: 0x01cfb33e9604ffbd
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo\Game\Bin\TS4CAS.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: d5bc457b-1f31-11e4-825c-e06995eb7d97
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

18

Living Room / Thinking of switching to WP8 from Android

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:34 PM »

So right now, I'm using the Nexus 5, and I love it. Though, I was curious about Windows phone. I was thinking about getting the Nokia Lumia 1520. If anyone that has used both Android, and Windows phone could give me some insight on WP, that would be great. The Nexus 5 is very open and gets the newest version of Android shortly after it is released. How locked down is Windows Phone, and how is Microsoft about updating phones? (are they like nexus phones, or will Microsoft stop updating their phone after like 2 or 3 updates?) On a side note, the Nexus 5 uses a micro sim card, and the Lumia 1520 apparently uses a nano sim card. If I wanted to switch between the two phones periodically, how hard would it be to transfer service between my micro sim card, and the new nano sim card?

Would it be worth it for me to switch, or should I just stick with my Nexus?

Edit: One more thing that is actually kind of a big deal for me. I have my phone paired to my car stereo via bluetooth, and use the pandora controls on the stereo, because I hate all the commercials that FM radio has, and satellite radio is to expensive for me. Will I be able to use the pandora controls with windows phone? Or at the very least, can I use the bluetooth streaming option on my car stereo to atleast skip songs, and pause them?

19

Non-Windows Software / Android: Looking for true app data backup solution

« on: July 14, 2014, 04:04 PM »

I'm looking for an app or method to backup both my apps, and my app data. I have a nexus 5, so I don't have an sd card option to backup to. I do however has stickmount, so I could backup to a usb drive. Though, it would be nice if I had the option to backup to a folder on my google drive. I have tried various apps, and they all seem to only know how to backup just the app, and not its data. (meaning, I lose all my progress on any games I have.) I've heard Titanium backup is supposed to be able to backup both the apps, and their data, but when I tried it, it only backed up the apps, and then when I went to restore my backup, it just installed each app one by one, and without the app's data.

Does anyone know of a good free (or free with premium option) app that will actually backup my apps and their data? My phone is rooted, is there some folder that has all of my apps' data that I can just backup?

20

General Software Discussion / typing in web browser makes it freeze

« on: September 11, 2013, 05:03 PM »

Im running windows 7 x64. I have ie10 and chrome 29.0.1547.66 m. Ive scanned my computer with mse and malwarebytes, neither found anything. Whenever I try to type anything into chrome's adress bar, or in a text box in chrome or ie, the browser will lock up, and I have to force close it. I can however type in ie's address bar without it locking up, but if I try to type in a text box on a webpage, it locks up. I figured, maybe it was my keyboard, so I unplugged it, and tryed using my drawing tablet with the onscreen keyboard. Same result. I dont have any other browsers, so I cant try them, but I can type in windows Explorer and notepad perfectly fine. Any idea what is causing this? (Ps. Typing all this on an android tablet takes forever)

Edit: upon further inspection, I have figured out that it isnt just text boxes, I just have to have the web browser the active window, and as soon as I hit anything on my keyboard, it locks up

21

Non-Windows Software / ANDROID: Looking for android budget app

« on: August 30, 2013, 12:43 AM »

I'm looking for a simple money tracking app for android. I don't need it to have a bunch of fancy features. Pretty much all I am looking for is a digital version of those things you get with your checkbook that has a spot for description,expense,income,and new balance. I want to be able to be at walmart, or a fast food joint, and be able to just open the app, and input what I purchased, and how much it was, and then the app will subtract that from my total. I could also do the same for income (for example, a paycheck). It would then show me a list of all my transactions, and how much money I currently have in the bank. I am not looking for something like mint.com where It "attempts" (and for me, fails) to automagically read my online banking account, and add my transactions for me. It has to be manual. Don't want any automatic stuff that likes to break itself.(I'm talking to you mint.com!) A huge plus for me would be the ability to either A. view/edit all this from a website/program on my computer (syncing the app and program together somehow, dropbox maybe?), or B. backup the app's database to the cloud or somewhere not on my phone.(again maybe dropbox/google drive).

Right now I have a google doc spreadsheet that I manually add everything to. I can access this via the google drive app on my phone, and also via the google drive website on my computer. This works ok, but if I have to add/remove a transaction somewhere in the middle, I have to do a bunch of editing to get it all correct and what not. (yeah, I could use equations(I think that is what they are called?) to automatically update the total, but I am too lazy to do that.)

I would rather not have to pay for the app, and while not completely necessary, it would be nice if the app didn't have ads. (don't go out of your way to look for an ad free app is what I mean here)

22

General Software Discussion / 64 bit Standalone Stack or alternative?

« on: February 18, 2013, 05:09 PM »

I don't know when they added the feature, because I haven't used standalone stack in a long time, but I love how when you click on a folder inside of it, it shows the contents of the folder along with a go back button. It used to just open the folder in explorer. The problem is that Standalone Stack can't open 64 bit programs (even if you tell it to run a shortcut to a 64 bit program). Does anyone know of a 64 bit program (or a 32 bit program that by some voodoo magic supports 64 bit programs) that pins to the windows 7 taskbar, will display the contents of a folder, and display the contents of sub-folders (rather than just open the folder in explorer)

23

Living Room / In Need of Searchable Database For a Card Shop

« on: February 05, 2013, 12:43 AM »

There is this local trading card shop that my friend and I are helping the owner out with. We wanted to create a website that would let people easily type in the name of a card that they are looking for (or just do a search of several cards based on various search terms).
If the card is in the database (the shop has that card) then it would show a page that lists the card's name, a link to a website that shows more info about the card, how many the shop has, and how much it costs.
I don't know how to code php or mysql, so I can't really build this from scratch.

I could just create a table that would have all the information, but that has a few issues.
1. the owner of the store would have to manually edit the source code of the webpage to add/remove/update cards. (I could use wordpress and he could just edit a page as a workaround for this.)
2. The only way you could search for cards is by using your web browser's search feature. (you could only search for specific card names, not things like card type(eg. land, creature, instant, etc.).)
3. This wouldn't really be very organised, and the average user could be overwhelmed by this and not want to use it.

Does anyone know of something simple and easy to use that could accomplish this?

24

Living Room / Possible to send sms over seas via email gateway?

« on: December 19, 2012, 12:08 AM »

So I live in the USA, and have a phone with Verizon. My sister's husband is stationed at the air force base in the UK, and she has a phone with Vodafone.
Would it be possible for me to add 0n(at)vodafone(dot)net to my phone as a contact, and her add n(at)vtext(dot)com to her phone as a contact, and we be able to text each other back and forth without getting hammered with long distance messaging fees?

25

General Software Discussion / chrome won't play mp4 files anymore

« on: November 21, 2012, 11:23 PM »

Not sure when it started, but for some reason on my primary computer (win 7 x64), chrome will no longer play mp4 files. There is times where it will play an mp4 file, but only audio plays, no video. It used to play them just fine. My Home theater PC (also win 7 x64) has chrome installed (same version as my primary pc, with same profile logged in), and it plays them just fine. I know that it isn't a conflict with my extensions, because both computers have the exact same extensions installed, and I have also tried disabling all of them with no success. I have tried playing mp4 files in IE10, and Firefox. Firefox plays them using quicktime, but the video is kind of laggy, and IE just sits there and pretends to be loading a webpage, but never does anything else.