Messages

10676

General Software Discussion / Re: Shortcut hotkeys

« on: August 15, 2007, 11:50 AM »

Thanks Curt, never got to figure FF's shortcuts so...

I seem to remember that there was a hot key to force Screen Saver NOW (e.g. to blank your screen in a hurry) similar to the "preview" button on the Display Properties page. I still haven't found it - does anyone know??   

-BigJim (August 15, 2007, 10:24 AM)

isn't there something like that on offer in FARR alpha - Yes there is. [I dont know if it's in current FARR version]
(I seem to be saying that a lot lately - but it's true! -
almost anything you could possibly want is available in FARR these days  )

You may know all this, but,
in case you're not familiar with it Jim:
https://www.donation...r/findrun/index.html
But for the ALPHA,
go to members only area in forum,
then Preview software & theres a thread with a link to FARR_ALPHA download.
Install/unzip. Press break key. Start to type screensaver - the option comes up by the time I've sc.. typed.

Then again, that may not be quick enough for you 

10677

Living Room / site for searching for geographical features?

« on: August 15, 2007, 05:27 AM »

Anyone know a good site for searching for geographical features?

For example
I'm looking for Sheen River (County Kerry, Ireland) -
I want to see it from source to end/whatever you call it! (mouth?)

GoogleMap isnt any help;
if I google it I get Sheen Falls Hotel etc etc etc etc etc ...

10678

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« on: August 14, 2007, 06:04 PM »

CroosLoop drives my AV scatty I'm afraid...
every startup...
maybe it's just cause I being the cheapskate & using AOL/Kapersky antivirus which doesnt allow for ignoring files..

10679

General Software Discussion / Re: DVD/CD Menu Creation - what's the best utility for this?

« on: August 14, 2007, 02:19 AM »

Mike,
from my Surfulater "archives" 
I haven't tried either of these, they may be too basic for your requirements

Autorun.inf Maker (freeware)
& hamradio's
Compact Autorunner

10680

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« on: August 14, 2007, 02:10 AM »

Edit 2: It has been added into the program, along with a little info if you forget what it is asking

Brandon,
1) is that "it" = the option I requested?
2) do we still download from post 129 above?

10681

General Software Discussion / Re: firefox vs. opera: FF is slow when hitting 'back', opera just uses cache

« on: August 13, 2007, 05:02 PM »

I've been using firefox for a while, about a month now and found that the 'minimize to tray' addon and the 'minimize to tray enhancer' addon are speeding up my browsing a lot. In the options of these addons are tweaks that can help. And it doesn't use a lot of resources either. Take it from me who is still on a pentium 3 machine. These addons keeps firefox loaded but idle.

The main one was that I was hitting X instead of the minimize arrow, until I found the tweak to have the X (close) button minimize firefox to the tray

-cmpm (August 13, 2007, 04:02 PM)

sounds great, very helpful for my old maching too - will try

Firefox's recent history cache is still both slower and much more memory hungry than Opera's. I've tested this by opening Google Image Searches for Picasso, Magritte and Dali (20 images per page). Then navigation through ten pages (thus 200 images per tab and 600 images total). Firefox fails after 5 (default settings) back navigations in total. Opera can render *all* of the 30 pages and 600 images immediately using some 40% less RAM!

-nontroppo (August 13, 2007, 04:37 PM)

don't be making me envious     
(I have other reasons why I using FF...I'd prefer not to, honestly )

I was actually taking the thread a little off topic
(but thought it was related enough not to have to  start a new one)
by asking about how the browsers startup while re-opening tabs from previous session
& wondering if there was a way to make FF start without reloading all webpages as opposed to simply saving them which i believe Opera does (I've gotten this bad tab-habit...)

10682

General Software Discussion / Re: firefox vs. opera: FF is slow when hitting 'back', opera just uses cache

« on: August 13, 2007, 02:42 PM »

I believe when Opera starts with tabs from previous session, it loads these from the cache.
FF on the other hand opens the pages anew.. which can lead to a very long wait!
dont know if my understanding is correct??

If so, is there a way to change this behaviour in FF - I have Session Saver extension installed & checked it's options but couldnt find anything, in fact if you go to where they're saved its just links.

will go have a look at this fasterfox..

10683

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« on: August 12, 2007, 04:17 PM »

Hi Tom -

I have one physical drive that I had partitioned in three about two and a half years ago. Initially I had a big partition for My Documents and user settings (like Outlook and IE), a small (@2GB) partition for my Paging File, and a medium sized partition for Windows and Programs.

I've since gotten rid of the small paging file partition altogether and have placed my paging file on the windows/programs partition. It's set to 1.5 times my RAM (so 1536MB) and is fixed in size. I don't have a paging file at all on the My Documents partition. The setup works well and is more stable than the previous one.

-Darwin (August 12, 2007, 01:00 PM)

Thanks Mike!
no, I was thinking of trying it on new computer with two drives.. I'll see,
it almost sounds like if you have enough memory it's not that important so I might be as well to follow your (current) example seeing as it's working well for you

10684

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« on: August 12, 2007, 12:44 PM »

following cmpm's google link above
I got a few recommendations -
One was if you have say 2GB memory & two drives, to have a paging file of that size on each drive.

Then from: http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

Should the file be left on Drive C:? The slowest aspect of getting at a file on a hard disk is in head movement (‘seeking’). If you have only one physical drive then the file is best left where the heads are most likely to be, so where most activity is going on — on drive C:. If you have a second physical drive, it is in principle better to put the file there, because it is then less likely that the heads will have moved away from it. If, though, you have a modern large size of RAM, actual traffic on the file is likely to be low, even if programs are rolled out to it, inactive, so the point becomes an academic one. If you do put the file elsewhere, you should leave a small amount on C: — an initial size of 2MB with a Maximum of 50 is suitable — so it can be used in emergency. Without this, the system is inclined to ignore the settings and either have no page file at all (and complain) or make a very large one indeed on C: In relocating the page file, it must be on a ‘basic’ drive. Windows XP appears not to be willing to accept page files on ‘dynamic’ drives. NOTE: If you are debugging crashes and wish the error reporting to make a kernel or full dump, then you will need an initial size set on C: of either 200 MB (for a kernel dump) or the size of RAM (for a full memory dump). If you are not doing so, it is best to make the setting to no more than a ‘Small Dump’, at Control Panel | System | Advanced, click Settings in the ‘Startup and Recovery’ section, and select in the ‘Write Debug information to’ panel

and for Skywalka

Can the Virtual Memory be turned off on a really large machine? Strictly speaking Virtual Memory is always in operation and cannot be “turned off.” What is meant by such wording is “set the system to use no page file space at all.” Doing this would waste a lot of the RAM. The reason is that when programs ask for an allocation of Virtual memory space, they may ask for a great deal more than they ever actually bring into use — the total may easily run to hundreds of megabytes. These addresses have to be assigned to somewhere by the system. If there is a page file available, the system can assign them to it — if there is not, they have to be assigned to RAM, locking it out from any actual use.

and

How big should the page file be? There is a great deal of myth surrounding this question. Two big fallacies are:     * The file should be a fixed size so that it does not get fragmented, with minimum and maximum set the same     * The file should be 2.5 times the size of RAM (or some other multiple) Windows will expand a file that starts out too small and may shrink it again if it is larger than necessary, so it pays to set the initial size as large enough to handle the normal needs of your system to avoid constant changes of size. This will give all the benefits claimed for a ‘fixed’ page file. But no restriction should be placed on its further growth. As well as providing for contingencies, like unexpectedly opening a very large file, in XP this potential file space can be used as a place to assign those virtual memory pages that programs have asked for, but never brought into use. Until they get used — probably never — the file need not come into being. There is no downside in having potential space available. For any given workload, the total need for virtual addresses will not depend on the size of RAM alone. It will be met by the sum of RAM and the page file. Therefore in a machine with small RAM, the extra amount represented by page file will need to be larger — not smaller — than that needed in a machine with big RAM. Unfortunately the default settings for system management of the file have not caught up with this: it will assign an initial amount that may be quite excessive for a large machine, while at the same leaving too little for contingencies on a small one. How big a file will turn out to be needed depends very much on your work-load. Simple word processing and e-mail may need very little — large graphics and movie making may need a great deal. For a general workload, with only small dumps provided for (see note to ‘Should the file be left on Drive C:?’ above), it is suggested that a sensible start point for the initial size would be the greater of (a) 100 MB or (b) enough to bring RAM plus file to about 500 MB. EXAMPLE: Set the Initial page file size to 400 MB on a computer with 128 MB RAM; 250 on a 256 MB computer; or 100 MB for larger sizes. But have a high Maximum size — 700 or 800 MB or even more if there is plenty of disk space. Having this high will do no harm. Then if you find the actual pagefile.sys gets larger (as seen in Explorer), adjust the initial size up accordingly. Such a need for more than a minimal initial page file is the best indicator of benefit from adding RAM: if an initial size set, for a trial, at 50MB never grows, then more RAM will do nothing for the machine's performance.

maybe I'm quoting too much ... worth going there for a read at any rate..

10685

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« on: August 12, 2007, 12:18 PM »

- in the past, I've tried setting a harddrive partition aside and putting the PF there, but PF usage and disk activity were elevated.

-Darwin (August 12, 2007, 10:46 AM)

was that partition on the same drive? (I'm wondering whether to try putting paging file on a different drive)

Well... as I understand it, there are some apps, such as Adobe Photoshop, that insist of swapping data to file, so if you're running anything that requires it, not running a PagingFile will be a liability.

re photoshop,
I think it uses it's own "paging file" -
from the Photoshop 5.5 help:-

When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Adobe Photoshop uses a proprietary virtual memory technology, also called the scratch disks. Virtual memory is disk space used for storing data during a work session when the amount of RAM is insufficient. (This scratch disk space is not a Windows swap file [swap file = paging file?] or Mac OS virtual memory, but is used only when working in Photoshop.) ... The amount of free space on the scratch disk must be greater than or equal to the amount of RAM you have allocated to Photoshop. To ensure good performance, Photoshop writes the entire RAM contents to the scratch disks during idle times. If the scratch disks run out of free space, Photoshop quits taking additional RAM—regardless of what you have allocated to the program. This means that if you’ve allocated 60 MB to Photoshop [1999 standards ] but you have only 10 MB of free space on your scratch disk, Photoshop will use only 10 MB of RAM.

which you can allocate yourself -
I'm given an option of allocating 4 different scratch disks, not sure why four...
as far as I know if you dont allocate it, it's taken automatically from C drive (mind you mine says "startup"  )

10686

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« on: August 12, 2007, 07:37 AM »

When AutoInstalling, AutoCleaning, AutoOptimizing, or EasyMaintaining, you will NOT BE ABLE TO CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER.
...
The BAD part about this is that if something DOES go wrong ( ) you will have to
a) let it go
b) shut off the system power
c) run around in a circle and hope for the best

-wreckedcarzz (August 11, 2007, 05:52 PM)

I think that'll scare a lot of people (me for one)
how about it as an option - would that be possible? - for those of us without interfering mother-in-laws etc. 

10687

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Replicating ClipStep in CHS

« on: August 12, 2007, 07:27 AM »

I'd like to see CHS replicate ClipStep's copy & paste interface.

-skywalka (August 12, 2007, 02:26 AM)

is there something in FARR now that replicates that  ??

10688

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you know a good image viewer with CMYK support ?

« on: August 12, 2007, 07:25 AM »

IE7 save target as function saves it as cmyk_test.jpg while Opera saves it as .png

-PhilB66 (August 12, 2007, 06:43 AM)

odd,
in FF I rightclicked to save image & got a png - but of course that was the thumb!
so
I clicked on thumb to enlarge & it simply dissapeared without even leaving the "little red cross" as in Curt's case...
the plot thickens ...

dopus viewer displays my own test CMYK (photo) jpeg perfectly
just tried a quick test with graphics (flat colours) in dopus, also no problem

gave in & opened IE - the test image looks fine in Dopus for me too...

10689

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you know a good image viewer with CMYK support ?

« on: August 11, 2007, 01:11 PM »

no good news i'm afraid
-
i just converted a jpeg photo to CMYK in photoshop
& opened both in ExifPro - which isnt free but is only $20 or so

unfortunately the CMYK, well it looks crap - faces looking like serious wine drinkers on a session,
colours gaudy & oversaturated, ah well...

10690

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« on: August 10, 2007, 04:16 AM »

Would it be of interest to make a pre-complied, ready to go zip for USB drives (somewhat like the PortableApps.com setup)? I was thinking about doing it (just got a Geek Squad 4GB drive) but don't want to make something no one will use. Thoughts?  / ?

-wreckedcarzz (August 09, 2007, 08:57 PM)

yes yes, 
even i who knows so little about computing things get called upon by my family
so try sort out their messied-up PCs...

10691

Living Room / Re: KenR's health and situation

« on: August 09, 2007, 06:39 PM »

Ken,
I wish you the best of luck with everything & all the help you might need along the way,
tom

10692

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 09, 2007, 10:46 AM »

Anyway, hope the system is going to suit your needs - apparently you won't be assembling it yourself, otherwise I'd have ordered you to take pictures of the process.

-f0dder (August 09, 2007, 08:44 AM)

You'll probably get a picture anyways    "the proud owner wit his nice new black puter"

EDIT: I almost forgot. Don't forget about loading that thing with fans (I remember you said you were going to do it, but just as a reminder ). Passive cards can get VERY hot, although Asus had some really good passive models, that got lower temps than actively cooled ones.

-Lashiec (August 09, 2007, 08:50 AM)

ehh, I might be posting again at that stage...
the box (case? what's the english name?!) Coolermaster Centurion 5 Midi-Tower (CAC-T05) their website is flash - taking ages to load. Now it cant find it's own products 
Anyways it has    "1*80x80x20 Lüfter hinten (fan in back) 1*120x120x25 Lüfter vorne (fan in front)
Customer reviews at a site here say its good & cool (both ways!) & even "relatively quiet" -
is there ways of testing/keeping track of temperature of things in computer? (I downloaded speedfan lately but havent used it - will look at their site..)

looks like a good computer, congratulations 

-mouser (August 09, 2007, 08:50 AM)

cheers!

10693

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 09, 2007, 08:08 AM »

Thanks to all for all your help   

For the record here's what I finally ordered:

CPU: Intel core 2 duo e4400 tray 2048kb, lga775, 64bit 100,60 € Mobo: Msi p35 neo-f, intel p35, atx 90,75 € CPU fan: Arctic freezer 7 pro sockel 775 14,17 € Memory: 2048Mb-kit ddr2 mdt , pc6400/800, cl5 70,91 € Box: Coolermaster centurion5 schw. Cac-t05-uw no PSU 44,49 € PSU: Atx-netzteil corsair vx450w 450 watt 65,00 € Graphic card: ASUS GF-7100GS Silent, 128MB, Nvidia 7100GS, PCIe 36,50 € Harddrives: Samsung hd321kj 320gb serial ata-ii, 7200 upm, 16mb 60,40 € Samsung hd321kj 320gb serial ata-ii, 7200 upm, 16mb 60,40 € DVD burner: Samsung sh-s183l bare schwarz 35,38 € Floppy Laufwerk 1.44 Mb,3.5" Schwarz 4,99 € Sound: Terratec aureon 5.1 Pci 16,40 € Modem: Devolo microl. 56K pci (bulk) pci 11,55 € Building: Rechner - zusammenbau 9,99 € Sum: 621,53 € delivery etc (COD, "Logistikkosten") is €15.66 in total Total: €637.19

from -
hardwareversand.de (they deliver EU wide at any rate if you're interested!):
http://www1.hardware...6_NYDkO5C/1/home.jsp
again,
for the record, they got 8.2 out of 10 in 420 customer reviews at schottenland.de -
so I hope to join the satisfied customer ranks soon

EDIT: in case anyone does want to order there - just to let you know only payment options are credit-transfer in advance or COD which might not be available outside germany

10694

General Software Discussion / Re: Top 3 programs you use

« on: August 09, 2007, 07:36 AM »

Lately
& excluding Freehand (vector drawing app) which I use for work,

I would say:
DOpus 8
Surfulater
Evernote as well, even though as I get to use it more I'm not that crazy about it

Firefox get's left out cause it's bugging me at the mo (I'm really an opera fan but cause of Surfulater..)
I know you said only three but I cant leave out instant boss from app

10695

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 08, 2007, 05:53 AM »

Hah - the saga continues!
Tried unsuccessfully to order that PC a few times - (they were out of this or that or the site too busy to navigate properly)

Meanwhile someone recommended a much cheaper site with better system for configuring (if you choose cpu it shows you only compatible mobos, etc. etc.)

So I have a new config. I'm happy with everything - just unsure about graphic card -
I did decide to get a cheap one. (40 to 50euro)

I've heard Graphic cards can be pretty loud -
the rest of the machine is hopefully fairly quiet!
For that price I could get a passively cooled 128MB, or am I worrying unnecessarily?
Would 128MB dedicated card be as good/better than 256MB on board?
(unfortunately they dont offer passively cooled 256MB card in this price range)
Or, of course I could get a 256MB card

Here's the possible list:

Asus gf-7100gs silent, 128mb, nvidia 7100gs, pcie 36,50 €     EDIT: thats the passively cooled one Club3d x1550, 256mb, ati radeon x1550, pci-express 40,35 € Club3d 7300le nvidia 7300le, 128mb, pcie 41,68 € Xfx geforce 8400gs 256mb ddr3, pci-express 43,50 € Asus gf-7300gs td, 256mb, nvidia 7300gs, pci-express 46,60 € Gigabyte gv-nx73g128d nvidia 7300gs, 128mb, pcie 49,72 €

-
Again any recommendations/opinions much appreciated,
tom

EDITED see list

10696

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: timer that counts resting, interruptions, and work as separate entries

« on: August 07, 2007, 03:08 AM »

Wow, sound great App  good luck with it -

Off topic bits:
I know what you mean about the heat - a couple of summers ago it was round the 100 to 110 mark (36 to 40°) here for a long time & I was working in a room under the roof (as they say here)
Thats when you notice a CRT monitor & a computer are really heaters in disguise..

"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." -- Albert Einstein

-app's sig

10697

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« on: August 05, 2007, 07:25 PM »

I am going to (try) add the ability to restore itself from the tray when double clicked, so I can make it like it should have been in the first place.

-
make it restore on single click! (campaign for single clicks)

sounds like you're onto the slog part of things...

10698

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 05, 2007, 07:16 PM »

hah!
forgot ye voted against the euro

looks good - much easier to navigate as well,
but the shop here does actually have a very good selection - unfortunately they sort by brand rather than size..
and as I say, it's catering to gamers -

the OCZ gets v.good reviews too
goes from 1.9 to 2.2V
supposed to be best @ 2.0V

I think I'll go with the Kingston though 

10699

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 05, 2007, 05:45 PM »

it's true, I could cry, if it's this complicated even with everybody's help here to even figure out what to put into the machine .. all I can say (again) is I'm bleeding glad I'm not building the fecking thing.
There -
now I feel better, please excise - "excuse" I meant to type that little outburst

Actually part of my problem is I'm kinda stuck with the one supplier cause they're building the thing.
Mostly this okay cause they have quite a good selection - but on the memory front they seem to cater almost completely to gamers who like this overclocking business - so this was actually one of the cheaper memory options!

What I dont really understand is:
according to Wikipedia, 800 is better than 667 & so on down the line - but the prices (at this website anyway,) dont seem to reflect this at all

Looking at mobo specs & same for various memory types was what nearly brought me to tears - they sort of tend to hide all the important details or mobo says abc then memory says xyz

okay,
mobo website (wher I should have looked in the first place) says:

1. 4 DDR2 DIMM memory slots (supports up to 16GB memory)    2. Supports dual channel DDR2 800/667/533/400 DIMMs    3. Supports 1.8V DDR2 DIMMs

that seems fairly clear now 
so I have something to work with!
one from Crucial that says 1.8Volts, but it's only a 533 - €10 euros cheaper @ €86 
a KingstonValue Ram 667 for €94 (not that cheap!) also runs at 1.8V - that sounds like my choice unless anyone else cries NO!?

10700

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« on: August 05, 2007, 06:41 AM »

thanks Carol, Mouser
The 2GB OCZ is a "twinned stick" so should be okay.