Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 02:42 PM »

Thanks 40hz. And my thanks (again) to all who've helped me solve the problem. I've posted this thread on a number of help forums over the past week, and you are the people who came up with The Answer - an answer I'm spreading to all the sites I've posted the question on, with full credit back here. Well deserved credit  !

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 02:11 PM »

To All Who've Responded To The Group Policy Editor Error Message:  Thank you all for responding. I'm basically going to play Chicken with this one. Since Group Policy Editor is not native to Home Premium, and since I've been steered to an alternative approach by tomos that works without risking anything, I'll take the safe way out and leave well enough alone. And, I sincerely appreciate that everyone was so eager to help me out with this one. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 11:36 AM »

@tomos: Bulls-Eye! While it doesn't change everything, the taskbar font remains the same, but all menus, including context menus, are in bold weight. And that includes IE. I set all the font settings I could to Trebuchet MS, bold weight, 11 pt. and it makes programs like IE use bold weight fonts; and PhotoDirector 5 works just fine using your technique.

Sincere thanks and appreciation for solving a problem I've struggled with for months. 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 10:58 AM »

@MilesAhead:  I tried to install the Maxthon 2 browser (went fine), but when I tried to run it I was blocked with an error message saying I was blocked because the program (Maxthon) was violating the Group Policy Editor. ASs I'm running Home Premium, I don't have access to the GPE. Any ideas?

@tomos:  Thank you for replying. I'm off to try out your suggestion.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 10:44 AM »

@MilesAhead:  I think from what I've read, that you have indeed found what I'm looking for. I am most appreciative. The other solution to the problem is to change the default Windows system font from Segoe to Trebuchet MS Bold (using the Windows 7 tutorial). This gives the bold weight I'm looking for. The trade-off is the loss of one program - Cyberlink's PhotoDirector (versions 4 & 5). Apparently the extra 'room' the Trebuchet font uses is too large for PhD and it therefore draws all the GUI boxes, but none of the required text to go into those boxes, i.e., instead of the various menu names on the GUI, there is a placeholder for the name but no text.

So far it is just that one program that has the problem, and since I have several other Photoshop-level programs (including Photoshop) it is not that big of a loss. The other trade-off, this time on the plus side, is that changing the default font to Trebuchet bold is that it cuts right across everything, e.g., the Taskbar text is bold weight, the Start Menu as well, context menus, and of course IE. I guess the question that now needs to be answered is what security risks are involved in using Maxthon 2 versus the (presumably) still under development Maxthon 3. Or perhaps conversely modifying the plug-in to be compatible with version 3 (in FF, changing 1 line of code fixes that problem on their browser).

Whichever approach I wind up using, thank you for giving me that option.
Regards,
BearPup

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 08:47 AM »

@Skwire: Thanks for replying. And yes, I'm aware of the scroll wheel magnification which is not really what I'm needing. I already set the magnification (zoom level) at 125%, zooming in any more than that leaves the page unreadable as text flies off the reading pane. What I'm looking for is the equivalent of the Firefox add-on that enhances the front end (the text that makes up the menus and the like) without running the page off the screen. Heck, I'd gladly settle for making the character weight 'bold' instead of 'normal'.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 08:22 AM »

@MilesAhead:  Thank you for replying. I will definitely check it out, and yes IE compatibility is critical for Microsoft websites.

UPDATE:  I tried every search term I could think of - bold, font, appearance, home page, modern, etc. - and the search result came back with zero results for each term I tried. So unless you're aware of something specific, it doesn't look like Maxthon will make a difference. And, again my thanks for replying.

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General Software Discussion / Internet Explorer Front End

« on: April 10, 2014, 07:16 AM »

Hello All,
I am partially visually impaired and the fonts that make up the IE browser are lightweight (i.e., not bold), and small in font size. In Firefox, there is a 'Theme and Font Size Changer' add-on that allows me to specify font, size and weight of the Firefox GUI. And in the Windows Seven Forum tutorials there is a way to change system fonts (which helps), but doesn't solve the problem.

I suppose I could revert to the XP look, but I have resisted that approach as the background photos are my own, and I don't want to move 'backwards' to a very out of date look. Frankly, I'd rather use a Firefox derivative such as Pale Moon as my browser than go backwards to the XP look. I've also tried the ZoomIt tool (Sysinternal) and what I find is that I lose the functionality of the mouse wheel when ZoomIt is activated. And I use the mouse wheel constantly in my work.

What I'm really looking for is an application / add-on for IE that functions like the Theme Font and Size Changer does in the Firefox and Thunderbird programs - it acts directly on the application's menus and theme to allow the 'standard' font to be changed to a different font and weight (bold),

So my question: is there some way to change either the font, or weight, or size of the fonts used in the IE interface?

Any help greatly appreciated.
Regards,
BearPup7

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 15, 2013, 08:45 PM »

Problem (mostly) solved. I've settled on Browser Tray Switcher, which does pretty much what I want:  allowing me to change which browser is my default at the simple click of the icon.

I have it configured to show the icon and notifications visible on the Taskbar, so when IE is the default, the IE icon shows, and when Firefox is the default, the Firefox icon shows instead. So when I know that a given link will need to be opened in IE, I click the Firefox icon, select IE as the default browser, the icon changes and when I click on the file link, the program opens in IE. When I'm done, I simply switch it back to the Firefox default, the icon changes back and Firefox is back to being my default browser.

Its more efficient than anything else I've been doing. It doesn't do anything for other file types, but it could perhaps serve as a model / template for other extensions (not so subtle hint).

My thanks to all who responded and offered program possibilities.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 08:56 PM »

@skwire: Thank you for responding. I have downloaded these two and will test them out to see if they'll give me better results than Browser Tray Switch does. But regardless, I appreciate your contribution. I've gone from zero programs to 3 to help me solve this most annoying problem.

Again, my thanks.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 06:53 PM »

@cmpm: That got it. I needed to make IE my default in order for it to register with the program. My quicklaunch icons now have an extra one which shows which browser is set as default, and lets me change it with a simple click. Not quite as efficient as having it be part of the right-click response to clicking on the link itself, but a lot more convenient than any other method I've used.

Thank you. I appreciate the posting and the program. I'm posting the info on dotTech.org for others to use. Here:  http://dottech.org/forums/advice-corner/multiple-file-associations/#p17567 . Post #9.

Not so subtle hint:  you could use this program as a template for other extensions as well, e.g., .ini, .txt, .log. Maybe even a variable program where the user inputs the extension they'd like to have default programs changeable, i.e., I might input .txt, and all extensions which use the same application for its default as .txt does would automatically be selected. For example, I'd input .txt and all extensions that use Notepad as a default would be selected for inclusion (.ini, .log, etc.). Something to think about.

 But for now, and again, my thanks.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 05:23 PM »

@cmpm: Well I tried it out, with no success! It installed fine, and found my default browser OK, but I couldn't get it to find IE to change the browser to. Even trying to uncheck Firefox didn't work. I guess that I'm stuck with choosing one browser or the other as my default and leaving it at that, and manually switching it as I have been doing. Sigh.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 03:38 PM »

@cmpm: Thank you. I'm going to try this one out. If it works, it'll at least save me the biggest hassle which is with the browser issue.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 01:56 PM »

@hamradio: thank you for responding. I actually am aware of your program, courtesy of dotTech. And while it might work for files, I didn't see how to make it work for links. And its links, especially in my email program, that cause the most problems. There I want to add to the existing right-click function the names of my 2 browsers, such that I can choose to open the linked file in either browser. Am I missing something?

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Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Multiple / Selective File Associations

« on: April 14, 2013, 01:01 PM »

So, sometimes I peruse a file using Internet Explorer (to respond to Microsoft sites), and the other half of the time with my default browser, Firefox. On my system left-clicking an .htm file will launch it with my default browser, and a right-click brings up a process that requires multiple clicks and selections in order to select which program will be used.

And in my email client ('wrapper') its even worse. Right-clicking a link brings up a different process, where I have to choose between default browser or Copy this link, which I then have to cut-and-paste into the browser I select separately....

This is an example, but the one I use on a daily basis. Ideally, the program I'm looking for would allow me to apply this type of 'selective file association' to any file extension, e.g., I could use it to work with .ini files or .txt (where I sometimes select notepad and DocPad at other times).

What I'm looking for is a one-click solution. Click, interface opens, click, I select which browser opens. Thats all. No lists to go through, no selecting from Explorer folders, no drilling down 4 levels, just a single click to select which browser will open that file to that specific location on that specific page.

Questions willingly answered, all thoughts and efforts gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance,
BearPup7

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Startup Software Needed

« on: March 04, 2013, 05:48 PM »

Thanks for the idea, but I don't think that AppGuard will do what I'm looking for. Yes, it theoretically will block malicious code, but I'm looking for a lot more than just that. But again, thanks for the thought.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Startup Software Needed

« on: March 04, 2013, 02:48 PM »

Didn't think of it as trivial, but I also thought it would be more of a "list, watch, and warn" type of software. However, I'm not a coder, and willingly take your word for it. So, I'll give WinPatrol another try. Thank you for taking a look at this.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Startup Software Needed

« on: March 04, 2013, 01:40 PM »

Thanks for replying. As I said, I've always felt overwhelmed by it, but I'll give it another look and see if I can ignore all the other stuff that seems to come with it.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Startup Software Needed

« on: March 04, 2013, 12:22 PM »

Thank you for replying. I'm aware of WinPatrol, and it has way too many other functions that I find overwhelming to deal with (cookies, services, processes, a multitude of tabs, etc.). I'm looking for a dedicated 64 Bit capable app that can do just this startup monitor and management function.

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Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Startup Software Needed

« on: March 04, 2013, 11:44 AM »

I have one laptop and one desktop computer:  Win 7, Home Premium, 64 Bit, plenty of RAM & hard drive space.

What I'm needing is software that will monitor, in real time, any application that tries to install itself on my computer, whether as a program or as a registry entry. When it detects such software I want an alert to popup letting me know and having me either give permission to allow it, or telling the computer to block / delete it. This monitor function would reside in the system tray.

The software will also have an autoblock feature that will enable an automatic block if the software tries to repeatedly install itself. And finally, this software would also have an internet search capability so I could search for info on software that wants to run at startup that is unfamiliar to me.

Additionally, the application would serve as a startup manager, listing all startup applications and registry entries running at startup. The manager function would also allow me to add, delete, disable, and edit startup entries, both as applications and as registry entries.

Though I'm posting it here as a freeware / donationware request, I'm willing to bet that people would pay for software that can do this, e.g., it has commercial potential! Questions gladly answered, and any suggested changes willingly considered. Thank you in advance,

BearPup7

21

Living Room / Re: Anything wrong with formatting a USB stick in NTFS?

« on: December 03, 2012, 01:56 PM »

  Pardon my screwup! The correct answer is format the drive in exFAT, then you can use 8 x 32Gb flash drives for ReadyBoost (the max allowed), or have the drive ready for very large files (the limit is 256Tb in size)! For drives 7Mb to 256Mb cluster size is 4K, for drives 256Mb to 32Gb its 32Kb and for drives 32 Gb to 256Tb its 128Kb.

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Living Room / Re: Anything wrong with formatting a USB stick in NTFS?

« on: December 02, 2012, 01:58 PM »

There was a PCWorld Answer Line forum in recent days that talked about the drive writing problem with NTFS file systems on flash drives. Because of the excessive writing NTFS drives do, I reformatted my 16 Gb drives to FAT32, with 512 Kb allocation unit sizing. That takes care of the problem.

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N.A.N.Y. 2013 / Re: NANY 2013: Please post requests!

« on: December 02, 2012, 01:42 PM »

A project idea for someone; anyone! I'm not a coder, though I might get a batch file to work, maybe. Anyway, the idea:   how about a front end or package wrapper that would allow a user to take a program that doesn't normally start with Windows and wrap it in a shell that would allow a user to specify that the program should in fact run with windows.

For example, one of the DonationCoders made me a wonderful little program called DoubleClick, which converts the scroll wheel to a double left mouse click when pressed. I would like to convert or modify this program (as well as a few others I have) to start-up when Windows does, without having to remember to run each one separately. Any ideas or suggestions?

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Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Double Click Needed

« on: April 09, 2012, 04:49 PM »

To MilesAhead:
From BearPup7

Thanks very much. Your zip did the trick. I'm very appreciative.
BP7

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Finished Programs / DONE: Double Click Needed

« on: April 09, 2012, 02:32 PM »

Code Request:   I am permanently disabled and need help with my mouse. In the past I had a program that would convert pressing my scroll wheel down to a mouse middle button, which in turn would act like a left button double click. The program has since been lost, and I am seeking a replacement.

The Need:   pressing the mouse tilt wheel sends a signal that simulates a left button double click.

Thank you in advance.  [mail hidden to avoid being grabbed by spammers -mouser]