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Messages - Brian De Braganza [ switch to compact view ]

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1
Finished Programs / Re: SOLVED: port to Windows of a MACOSX-like column view for Windows Explorer
« on: June 16, 2011, 12:51 PM »
You're welcome.  FWIW, WinBrowser has been around for a long, long time but has kept a somewhat low profile over the years.  I'm a fan of this type of column view as well.
-skwire (June 16, 2011, 12:36 PM)

I have just been testing UltraExplorer too and that is excellent as well - and free! I wonder if it is still being updated? It seems even more configurable than Directory Opus (which doesn't have column view). In fact, it looks better and more functional than most other Windows Explorer replacements of its kind!

Thanks again :-)

Brian

2
Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: port to Windows of a MACOSX-like column view for Windows Explorer
« on: June 16, 2011, 12:19 PM »
You have a couple of options:

-skwire (June 16, 2011, 11:58 AM)

OMG!!!! Winbrowser is exactly as I remember column view in the Finder! This is wonderful and exactly what I wanted. Not free, but not too much, either. How have I never run across this app before? Thank you Skwire  :-*

3
Finished Programs / SOLVED: port to Windows of a MACOSX-like column view for Windows Explorer
« on: June 16, 2011, 11:50 AM »
When I switched from MacOSX to Windows some years ago (long story), one of the features I most missed in Windows was the ability to display the Finder (the Mac's file manager, like Windows Explorer) by "Column View".

Anyone who has ever used a Mac with OSX will agree, I think, how handy column view is. The way column view works in the Finder is like this:

within a single window, each folder can be displayed as a column with all the contents of that folder displayed. Clicking on any folder within that column opens immediately a parallel column to the right and so on. Also, if the column's root folder is itself a buried subfolder, immediately beginning at the left, all the parent folders will each be displayed in columns all the way back to a root column, which is the equivalent of WE's tree. When one clicks on a file in a column, the finder can be configured to open a preview column which will display information about that file. Items can be dragged and dropped between columns and the columns can be made to auto-open to a set width or to the width of the filenames within. Obviously, this works like columnar 'breadcrumbs', where every column corresponds to a part of the breadcrumb trail. It was/(is?) even possible by using the option button and mouse to drag selected columns to preferred widths, all different if so wished, and have the Finder remember those settings each time that folder was opened or navigated to in column view.

This was one of the best - of very few, admittedly - of the good features of the Mac Finder that I remember, certainly the most useful, and I have often wondered if a similar arrangement could be ported to the Windows Explorer, say as an extension.

See here for some shots of column view demonstrated (about half-way down tha page):

http://switchtoamac....er-window-views.html

Brian

4
Finished Programs / Re: Idea: New Folder by F-key for Windows 7
« on: March 07, 2011, 11:43 PM »
@MileAhead - well, well, well! One learns something new every day! I had no idea that hotkey was there.

Brian De B

5
Post New Requests Here / Re: Idea: "MakeNewFolder" clone for Windows 7
« on: March 07, 2011, 11:41 PM »
@MilesAhead - I quite understand, although it wouldn't need to be a GUI copy. I wonder if something could be thrown together with AutoHotKey? Maybe I'll experiment myself.

Brian De B

6
Finished Programs / Re: Idea: New Folder by F-key for Windows 7
« on: March 06, 2011, 12:56 AM »
Thank you Ath  :Thmbsup:

Brian De B

7
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: an app to stop installers from launching web browsers and opening pages
« on: March 06, 2011, 12:52 AM »
Many thanks for replying everyone  :)

I can see that I have touched a nerve. Perhaps the first person to create such a "killer" app will be hailed a hero!

@MilesAhead and app103, I will try BrowserTraySwitch. Since I never use IE, I could switch to that before an install and switch back to Firefox after. At least IE would open quickly. I would need to set it so that javascript and activeX are disabled and all the other bells and whistles that Microsoft insists on are turned off. I so rarely use IE that every time I do launch it, it throws a dozen or so things to step through before it will open a danged page - LOL.

@Ath, I did complain on one occasion to the developers - of Tabbles (some nice Italian gentlemen) when Tabbles insisted on opening a browser page every time on installation AND update. They informed me that mine was the first complaint about that and all the other users loved the fact that the Help page opened at the website! So.... >:(

@Eóin - I'm not a programmer so I'm afraid I'd probably end up with a bomb that destroyed my machine.

@app103, now that's an idea. I could install any quick and simple browser I would never use (there are lots of them) and block it in ESET's firewall. Combined with BrowserTraySwitch, that would work, except ... remember, some installers actually hang if they don't get a signal back that the browser page has opened (that SHOULD be outlawed).

@MilesAhead "Maybe the pop-up killer approach would be better. Kill all browsers until the install is complete." It would need to send a signal to the installer that the URL was opened. Some installers actually hang if they don't get that response.

Brian De B

8
Post New Requests Here / Re: Idea: "MakeNewFolder" clone for Windows 7
« on: March 06, 2011, 12:22 AM »
Hi MilesAhead,

Thanks for replying.

To answer your first question, MakeNewFolder installs in Windows 7. In XP, you launch it after opening a Windows Explorer window at the directory where you want to create the folders.  In Windows 7, because it looks for the XP-style Address Bar in Windows Explorer - which Windows Explorer in Windows 7 does not have - it returns an error "... so could not determine root path" and offers to default to the Desktop, but of course cannot create there either, because the path to a user's Desktop in Windows 7 has also changed from the standard path in XP. Bummer. (I don't know why Sharpe wouldn't change the code - he merely needed to change the paths to the current desktop and do a workaround for the breadcrumbs style bar in WE in 7.) I even tried using the "ClassicShell" extension to see if that helped, but no luck.

I will certainly try out your CreateDir app. The batch files idea is interesting too. Do you agree that Sharpe's idea is/was great, though?

Brian De B

9
Finished Programs / Re: SOLVED: desktop icon placement Save/Restore
« on: March 04, 2011, 06:32 PM »
Stardock Fences also is great freeware utility for saving and restoring desktop icons, plus it has extra features you might like  :) It works fine in Windows 7 and earlier. (There is also a "Pro" version.)

http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/


Brian De B

10
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Browser history as a tree/graph
« on: March 04, 2011, 06:16 PM »
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but Firefox already has an add-on called History Tree available. It is 'not compatible' with the latest versions of Firefox but can, of course, be 'made compatible' if you have the Mr Tech add-on installed, by right-clicking on it once installed and choosing "make compatible". You might need to override version checking to install it.

Read about it at MyDigitalLife:
http://www.mydigital...ee-free-application/

or here
http://www.maximumpc...on_week_history_tree

and install from here (or save to disk):
http://www.softpedia...Download-135948.html

Brian De B

Brian De B

11
Post New Requests Here / IDEA: an app to stop installers from launching web browsers and opening pages
« on: March 04, 2011, 05:50 PM »
My last wishlist post for today  ;D

You know the situation: you have shut down most running processes, including your web browser(s), to help prevent conflicts and problems while installing a new application and to free up resources. Without asking for permission, the installer launches a web browser and opens a web page - perhaps the help web page or homepage - or the uninstaller launches a web browser to open a page with a survey asking "why?", etc.

If, like me, you often have 40 or more saved tabs in Firefox (using TabsMixPlus), you know how annoying this can be, waiting for Firefox to launch and open all those tabs and then open a page you weren't interested in visiting in the first place. Grrr. No software installer/uninstaller should ever launch a web browser without presenting an option first to deny that behaviour, if preferred - but they do. Often the wretched installer app will not progress further until it receives a positive response from the browser with a connection to the launched URL.

Does anyone know of or can come up with a small application that would prevent software installers/uninstallers from automatically launching a browser? Obviously, it would have to be restricted narrowly to installers/uninstallers because there are lots of applications from which one actually wants to launch a URL.

I don't know if such an intervention is even possible, but I hope it is.

Brian De B

12
Post New Requests Here / Idea: "MakeNewFolder" clone for Windows 7
« on: March 04, 2011, 05:23 PM »
Ok, "clone" is cheeky but I couldn't come up with a different topic name  :-[

Ian Sharpe (http://www.iansharpe.com/) had a brilliant little utility (an application, not a system extension) for XP and 2000 only, called "MakeNewFolder" which was unique in that I have never seen anywhere such a tiny app with similar features.

Essentially, it opens a window where, using syntax, multiple folders including first level and (multiple) sub-folders at different levels of nesting can be created in one go in Windows Explorer in XP, either closing the window when finished or leaving open for new input, by option. It even saves command lines for future use/re-creation.

I will attach Ian Sharpe's help PDF file (zipped) for anyone interested in getting the full idea he had, but the following is an excerpt:

"Advanced syntax
To create multiple folders separate the names with vertical bars (probably Shift - \):
 
Some folder | Another folder | Yet another folder
 
This would create three folders in the current directory. Create sub-folders by naming them inside angled brackets:
 
Some folder < Another folder >
 
This would create "Some folder" and inside (beneath) it, "Another folder". Whenever you type a '<' character, MakeNewFolder automatically adds the closing '>' and places the insertion point between them. This helps keep your brackets balanced. Automatic addition of > can be turned off in the Options dialog.
 
The syntax can be extended and nested to create any folder structure you like:
 
Some folder < Folder A > | Another folder | Yet another folder
Some folder < Folder A | Folder B > | Another folder | Yet another folder
Some folder < Folder A | Folder B > | Another folder < Folder C | Folder D < Folder E | Folder F >> Yet another folder
 
The last example produces this structure:
 
                                   Current folder
                                            |
          -------------------------------------------------------
          |                                 |                                        |
     Some folder              Another folder                       Yet another folder
          |                                 |
     -------------             ----------------
     |                |            |                     |       
 Folder A    Folder B      Folder C          Folder D
                                                          |
                                               ----------------
                                               |                    |
                                            Folder E          Folder F


As someone who needs to create LOTS of folders for various organisational jobs in Explorer, the amount of time this saves is phenomenal and it is so easy to use.
I have been in touch with Ian Sharpe some time ago and he wasn't going to make this compatible with Windows 7 and I notice that he is no longer supporting the XP version or offering it on his website, although it is still available for download at various freeware sites (link below for Softpedia).

I know that Directory Opus can create multiple, first level folders (comma separated) but only in a Dopus window and there is nothing like the above functionality, that I know of, in any other XP application, let alone for Windows 7.

If anyone knows of an application that can do this in Windows 7 Windows Explorer and Desktop or can create an app that would have similar functions, I would be deeply grateful - although I don't know if this would be a 'quick hack' (I'm not a programmer). :P

Version 2.1.1 of MakeNewFolder is available for download at Softpedia at:
http://www.softpedia.../MakeNewFolder.shtml

and I have attached version 3 (which I can find nowhere on the web, now) and Ian Sharpe's help PDF file (zipped) for anyone interested. I guarantee they are spyware and adware free.

Brian De B

13
Finished Programs / SOLVED: New Folder by F-key for Windows 7
« on: March 04, 2011, 03:35 PM »
This is my first post/request/idea, so I hope I am doing this right  :huh:

BaxBex software (www.baxbex.com) has a neat little freeware utility extension for XP which will create a new folder in Windows Explorer when pressing the F12 key. A dialog pops up allowing you to name that new folder and Shift+Enter will then create the folder and open it. Initially, this little utility worked also in Windows 7 (although it was never designed for it or updated) but, due to recent Win 7 updates it no longer works and BaxBex is not interested in updating it. The utility also creates a New Folder button in the Windows Explorer toolbar in XP, but that isn't required in Windows 7 since the new Explorer already has one.

This behaviour is so useful because it means that new folders can be entirely created and entered when named using only the keyboard, which is always time-saving when not having to use the mouse to locate and click a button, create the folder, find it again in the list, and double-click to open it.

Is there any way to recreate this behaviour or a similar solution for Windows 7?

If you want to check out the BaxBex utility, "bxNewFolder", it can be found here:

http://baxbex.com/products.html
http://baxbex.com/im...ots/bxnewfolder.html
http://baxbex.com/files/bxnewfolder.exe

Brian De B

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