Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: Why Everything 1.2.1.451a still Alpha?

« on: August 21, 2012, 10:33 AM »

A search in the Everything forum for the author's username, "void" (aka "David"), yields his last forum post dated Dec 6, 2011.

Per one of the most active Everything forum users ("therube"), registration in the forum seems to be closed, with the last user to register being on Apr 7, 2012; but there doesn't seem to be any official announcement about closing the registrations.  I have attempted several times to find a way to register and cannot find a link to do so anywhere, nor any option to contact anyone without being registered.  (If anyone here at DC is already registered in the Everything forum, maybe you can see more than an unregistered visitor can see. (?)

Changing the login URL (http://forum.voidtoo...m/ucp.php?mode=login) to http://forum.voidtoo...cp.php?mode=register yields a page that says, "Creating a new account is currently not possible." (Thought it was worth a shot in case the links were simply missing or messed up, but the function might still be available... ...but no such luck.)

From reading all the threads about the stalled development, I get the impression that no one in the forum knows what has happened to David Carpenter or how to contact him.  I hope he's OK and will resurface sooner or later.

BTW, AFAIK, the last version posted is v1.2.1.452 (Nov 29, 2009) mentioned above, and described Nov 21, 2011 by David as the most stable version (http://forum.voidtoo...288&p=4376#p4376) just a couple weeks before his last post on Dec 6, 2011.  (I originally couldn't find a link to v1.2.1.452a after I noticed it mentioned in a different thread, so I just tried modifying the URL for v1.2.1.451a and was able to download v1.2.1.452a.  But I tried additional modifications of the download URL with later iterations of the versioning schema and came up with nothing.)

Regarding the "alpha" designation, it seems Everything was being pretty actively developed up until v1.2.1.452a, with v1.2.1.442a on Oct 23 2009, v1.2.1.445a and v1.2.1.446a both on Nov 19 2009, and v1.2.1.451a on Nov 24, 2009, then stalling after v1.2.1.452a on Nov 29, 2009.

Nearly 2 years later, on Nov 25, 2011, David indicated "I still have much to implement before the next release" (http://forum.voidtoo...453&p=4382#p4382).  It's already a dynamite program, and I hope we'll all get to see and enjoy the next release at some point.

2

General Software Discussion / Re: home-buying decision tool

« on: August 21, 2012, 08:42 AM »

Don't know if this is what you had in mind, (and it probably won't be of much help unless you can find it on some abandonware site), but in about 1989-1990 I used a very nifty program called Buy Your Home (IIRC).  I'm not a programmer, but at the time I recall thinking it was probably just a fairly simple GUI shell for a spreadsheet engine.  (Cost was about $20 US at the time, IIRC.)

It was primarily intended to allow comparing renting vs buying, but was easily adapted to compare buying this house or that house, etc.  It allowed you to enter assumptions about your projected annual income and expenses, income increases, rent amount, home selling price, mortgage amount and payments, interest rate, taxes and deductions (pertaining to buying vs renting), projected appreciation (or not), how long you expected to stay in the place (renting often financially better than buying if only staying a few years), etc., etc.  IIRC, it also must have had some basic tax estimating functionality built in, based on existing U.S. Federal tax regs at the time.

The way it was set up, you could also use it to compare different projected income and/or mortgage amounts for the same home purchase, e.g.:

• projected income if spouse works or not
• paying only the required mortgage payments vs paying more than required each month
• interest only w balloon vs fixed or ARM
• minimal downpayment with higher mortgage vs larger downpayment & lower mortgage
• different loan terms (e.g., 15-year fixed vs 30-year fixed)
• investing more available funds in a more expensive home vs a less expensive home with the difference in funds invested elsewhere
• how much difference it would make over x years to buy down a loan half a point when setting up the mortgage
• etc., etc.

I'm pretty sure I still have the program on a 5.25" floppy (which might have deteriorated beyond use by now) somewhere in my storage unit (hour and a half round trip and a couple hours of searching), and probably on an old HDD somewhere in storage, but my current circumstances don't allow me to go look for it.

I didn't find it online just now in a quick Google search, but if it is no longer being marketed, you might find it on some of the abandonware sites.  if you can't locate it anywhere, you might be able to find or create a spreadsheet template that would allow you to plug in various scenarios along the lines of those I've mentioned or whatever might better fit your circumstances and needs.  Seems like asking in some of the Office/Excel forums might be a good place to find a template that could be readily adapted to your needs. ...(Unless Perry Mowbray above is volunteering to write one )

Good luck!

3

General Software Discussion / Re: Any better Clipboard program.

« on: January 02, 2011, 01:56 AM »

The best program I've found so far (and have used for years) to capture the text from error messages is NirSoft's SysExporter.  ... it isn't nearly as convenient as a clipping program would be.

-gdv22 (December 24, 2010, 03:28 AM)

Yes, it has its uses, but if the computer was busy, with lots of windows open, I found it a real pain to scroll a long SysExporter list to find the one I wanted.  Even then, a bit more manipulation was required to clip the text.

-rjbull (December 26, 2010, 04:14 PM)

@rjbull:

I'm a little slow in replying, but thought I'd mention that as of v1.50 NirSoft added a "target" icon (like the one in SysInternals Process Explorer) that you just drag to the window you want to capture, which makes SysExporter MUCH more convenient to use (no more scrolling through the list to find just the right window).

And I don't know how long ago you tried it, but I remember long ago having to do some extra manipulation to get the text (seems like maybe I had to use the menu to save to a file then open the file to copy/paste ???) but now with nearly all of his programs you can simply click on whatever lines you want (or the typical Ctrl-Click to select several individual lines, or Shift-Click to select a range of lines, or Ctrl+A to select all lines) and copy to the clipboard with Ctrl+C.

So it's definitely been improved, but still not as convenient as a clipping program would be. 

I'll try some of the other text scraping programs you mentioned as soon as I get a chance!

4

General Software Discussion / Re: Any better Clipboard program.

« on: December 25, 2010, 03:14 AM »

Ohhh, yeah... ...Bummer!!!

I just checked the SysExporter page, and as soon as I saw his Notice for Win7 users, I remembered seeing it before (several months ago, I think).  But I'm still on WinXP and had forgotten.  So I'm glad you pointed it out for the Win7 crowd.  ...Hopefully Nir will be able to work around that at some point.

I assume it still works for most other windows, but I'd be curious to hear from any Win7 users who've tried it.

5

General Software Discussion / Re: Any better Clipboard program.

« on: December 24, 2010, 03:28 AM »

...On some versions of Windows, all you have to do is put the focus on an error message box and press Control-C.  That copies the text to the clipboard.  For versions of Windows where that doesn't work, it's worth trying CopyMessageBox, freeware by thyanté Software...

-rjbull (December 22, 2010, 01:54 PM)

I've also been frustrated at times trying to get the exact info from error messages without having to manually type it out (and it seems like Ctrl+C only works on maybe 20-30% of them), so my eyes lit up when I saw this link.

CopyMessageBox looks like a slick little utility with a nice, simple design.  Unfortunately, it didn't capture the text on the first error message I tried it with.  It did capture a nice screenshot of the message, but only has the option to save as a JPG file (I'd like to save as PNG for posting in forums, etc. ... but can easily convert JPG to PNG any number of ways, if necessary).  Then it skewed the image 45 degrees horizontally on the second error message snapshot I tried (and didn't capture the text), so it's got some limitations.

The best program I've found so far (and have used for years) to capture the text from error messages is NirSoft's SysExporter.  It often works when Ctrl+C doesn't, but I would estimate it still only captures the text from about 60-80% of error messages.  (I don't have enough programming knowledge to figure out exactly what is different about those it doesn't capture --- it seems to simply not detect them.)  Also, it isn't nearly as convenient as a clipping program would be.  But if Ctrl+C doesn't work and I REALLY need to capture the text, it's the first thing I try.

As an aside, SysExporter can actually be used for capturing the text of nearly any type of window currently visible on your screen (e.g., ComboBox, Label, ListBox, ListView, StatusBar, TextBox, TreeView, etc.).  So you can easily capture the ListView from nearly any program that creates lists of any kind but doesn't provide an easy way to save those lists.  From Regedit, for example, you can easily copy the ListView of your RunMRU commands or your Regedit Favorites.  Or from Explorer, you can easily capture a tabulated list of all the files in a folder, with whatever columns you have set up to display in Explorer (Name, Size, Date Modified, Date Created, etc.), ready to drop into Excel for further manipulation.

Should you ever have a need for it (I haven't yet ), you also could capture the current Regedit TreeView or Explorer folder TreeView (if you have Explorer set up to display the folder tree).

But like I said, it's not as convenient as a clipping program, and it doesn't capture text from some error messages.  So I look forward to trying some of the other recommendations here.  If anyone already knows which (if any) are particularly good with capturing text from error pop up messages, I'd appreciate a heads up!

6

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 23, 2010, 06:50 AM »

1. pin any shortcut to any file on your local machine to the Start Menu (contra Stoic Joker's last post, I think it has to be a shortcut that is pinned, not a file, because I can't see any way to edit the shortcut Target if I pin the actual file to the Start Menu ---

-gdv22 (November 22, 2010, 04:32 PM)

Ya know I was trying not to draw attention to my goofing the distinction earlier in the thread... But.

-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2010, 05:45 PM)

Hey, I wasn't trying to draw any attention to any goof and I'm not even sure what you're referring to earlier in the thread.  I was just referring to the immediately previous post:

...Pin local file to start menu, then edit the target (and start in) info of the pinned shortcut.

-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2010, 09:37 AM)

(emphasis mine) and I actually figured you were probably just being a little casual in your word choice and that maybe you meant shortcut.  (I even almost made a comment to that effect, but I figured I have enough trouble not being too wordy and I'd just leave the comment out.)

...But if we're talking about editing the Target and Start In info in a pinned shortcut, it has to be an actual shortcut, not a pinned file.  ...And I just realized from the rest of your post about Win7 that maybe you've been seeing this a little differently, because it sounds like Win7 creates a shortcut in the Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu folder whether you pin a shortcut, a file, or an executable.  WinXP doesn't.  It only creates a link stored in binary form in the registry (in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage).

In Win XP, if you pin a shortcut to the Start Menu, you can open that shortcut's properties to edit the Target and Start In info by right-clicking on either the actual shortcut, or on the pinned link on the Start Menu.  But if you pin a document (e.g., techidave's XLS) file or an ex cutable to the Start Menu, it doesn't create an actual shortcut anywhere on the machine.  And if you right-click on the pinned menu link to open the properties, it opens the actual properties dialog of the XLS file or the executable.  That's why I said I can't see any way to edit the Target and Start In info for a file pinned to the Start Menu.  ...So I just didn't want anyone else to try pinning a file and then trying to edit the Target and Start In info, because in WinXP, I don't think it can be done.  But it sounds like it could be done in Win7 because all pinned items have a corresponding shortcut (containing Target and Start In info that can be edited) in the Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu folder.

BTW, there are also some other inconsistencies in the ways pinned menu items can be edited in WinXP depending on the type of file it point to.  For example, if you rename a pinned shortcut or a pinned document by right-clicking on the pinned menu item and selecting Rename, it actually renames the shortcut or the document, wherever it exists on your machine.  Conversely, if you rename the actual shortcut or the actual document, the pinned link to it is not renamed (unless you click on the pinned menu link and WinXP/Explorer renames it, which it will do if it can find the document).  However, if you pin an executable to the Start Menu, you can right-click on the pinned menu link and rename it whatever you want (Bill or George, or anything but Sue!), and the executable name remains unchanged.  (I imagine the way Win7 does it, with an actual shortcut in the Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu folder for all pinned items, clears up those inconsistencies, so that editing items on the pinned menu also edits the corresponding shortcut.)

This inconsistent behavior is the main reason I was so careful in my wording earlier [(edit): which undoubtedly makes the writing more labored, and makes the task seem even more like "a lot of work to have to go through" ]... [for example]:

• 6. ...(now here's the sleight of hand)... ...rename the MyPinnedXLSLink shortcut on your Desktop or in its permanent location (i.e., NOT the Pinned MyPinnedXLSLink link on the Start Menu) AnythingYouWant
  

-gdv22 (November 14, 2010, 02:40 AM)

...to try to differentiate shortcuts from pinned menu links, because exactly which one is being renamed is critical to the method I outlined.  So I don't know if there is a proper or "official" term for the items that appear on the pinned menu, but I've been attempting to consistently refer to them as pinned menu links to differentiate them from shortcuts.  (H3ll, I still can't figure out the difference between folders and directories, but they ain't exactly the same as far as the WinXP registry is concerned! )

Creating a shortcut in that folder does not automatically make it show up as pinned in the start Panel.

-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2010, 05:45 PM)

Yeah, that'd be too easy and make too much sense!   (since that's the way it works with the [(edit): non-pinned shortcuts on the] Start Menu and the Quick Launch menu)

Deleting a (pinned) shortcut from the folder does not make it disappear from the Start Panel...But! It does make it stop functioning.

So they're apparently only loosely connected.

-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2010, 05:45 PM)

So the functionality is actually much as it is in WinXP (more or less one-way), but the shortcuts at least can be directly accessed in the User Pinned\StartMenu folder instead of nearly inaccessible and impossible to work with in binary form in the registry.  And it seems like it makes good sense to combine the pinned Start Menu functionality with the Quick Launch menu!  (Over the last couple years I'm actually using the Quick Launch menu much more that the pinned Start Menu, because I've been able to put much more onto that menu and customize it more to my liking.)

Well, I'm gettin' too tired to think straight and can't make any of the above any clearer right now; so I hope it makes sense.

[(edit): can't figure out why that end of list BBCode is there at the end of this line; and can't get rid of it... ...it's there when I open the post to edit it out, and I delete it, but it still shows up in both the Preview and in the saved edit --- forum software bug ??? stuck in my browser cache ???][/list]

7

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 22, 2010, 04:32 PM »

isn't this a lot of work to have to go through?  unless I am missing something here...

-techidave (November 22, 2010, 09:18 AM)

Yeah, it was a lot of work... ...to explain it!    (i.e., a LOT more than to do it)

I know I often have trouble figuring out how to say something simply... ...that's why I said:

This is essentially the same method outlined earlier, but instead of "modifying" the shortcut to point to a different Path/Target, I'm just renaming one working pinned shortcut so I can then rename another shortcut that points to the desired Target in the redirected MyDocs folder with the original pinned shortcut name.  (And maybe I could have just said that and not been so detailed above, but sometimes I can't figure out how to summarize until I've already written it out in detail... ...oh, well!)

-gdv22 (November 14, 2010, 02:40 AM)

As simply as I can figure out how to put it:

• 1. pin any shortcut to any file on your local machine to the Start Menu (contra Stoic Joker's last post, I think it has to be a shortcut that is pinned, not a file, because I can't see any way to edit the shortcut Target if I pin the actual file to the Start Menu --- and it doesn't matter what the shortcut actually points to, because its Target isn't really going to be used; it only matters that it have the name you eventually want on your pinned menu, and that it be in whatever folder on your local machine where you want to keep it once it points to your remote XLS file)
  

then either:

• 2a. edit the Target and Start In fields in the shortcut properties to point to the XLS file in your redirected network MyDocs folder (Stoic Joker's method)
  

or:

• 2b. create a shortcut to the XLS file in your redirected network MyDocs folder and rename it with the same name as the shortcut originally pinned to the Start menu (which, of course, requires first renaming the shortcut originally pinned to the Start Menu in step 1)

2a is maybe simpler to describe and a little more complicated to do.  2b avoids having to edit the Target and Start In info, because it is already correct when the shortcut is created, and you simply rename the shortcut to match whatever name is already in the pinned menu.  So it seems simpler (to me) than figuring out the correct network path syntax required for the editing in 2a (which I would do by creating the shortcut required for 2b anyway).  But these are essentially 2 means to the same end:  a pinned shortcut that points to a remote file.

I'm still eager to know if either of them works for you.

Just noticed, in 7 the shortcuts appear to be stored here:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu

...Not sure if/how that helps, but I thought I'd share it.

-Stoic Joker (November 22, 2010, 09:37 AM)

So then it would seem that in Win 7 you could just create a shortcut to the remote file and stick it in that folder.  But in a this thread discussing the same issue in a Win7 forum I found since my last post, no one seemed to come up with that solution.  So maybe not...??? (Don't have Win7, so no way to check.)  But it looks like they did come up with essentially the same solution we're proposing here.

In WinXP, the pinned shortcuts are stored in binary form in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage

...not easy (or even possible?) to edit directly (although that was something I investigated when I first started looking at this question).

8

Living Room / Re: Does anyone know this music? The artist?

« on: November 17, 2010, 02:24 AM »

40hz is right:  it does sound a lot like David Arkenstone... ...I'm having to work from memory here, because I haven't listened to my Arkenstone CDs in 10-15 years, and they're all inaccessible in a distant storage unit right now.  But this particular song seems familiar (...it's a little hard to tell because they're all similar sounding "meandering" instrumental music without strong melody lines, and tend to blur together, at least for me ).

If it is Arkenstone, I think it's from one of his Narada or Windham Hill releases in the early to mid-1990s, and I'm guessing maybe it's on his Chronicles compilation, or possibly his Convergence compilation with David Lanz.  (But it also might be familiar to me because (per Wikipedia) he's composed several film and video-game scores.)  If it's not him, I still think it might be a Narada or Windham Hill release from the early to mid-90s, but I can't think who the artist would be right now.

9

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 15, 2010, 05:07 PM »

gdv, I will try your suggestion out tomorrow.  I am not in that building today.

-techidave (November 15, 2010, 05:04 AM)

Yeah, after thinking about it so much, I'm eager to hear if it works for you!

The programmatic approaches in Stoic Joker's TechNet Link (Pin Items via Script) and worstje's Cautomaton post (immediately above) are fascinating to me conceptually, but over my head technically.  I hope to study them in more detail as soon as I get a chance, but for now I'm still thinking about a non-programmatic approach.

I've also had a couple of workaround ideas that, it seems to me, have some advantages over pinning to the Start Menu, and might even be preferable.  I thought about posting them here, but maybe will wait until you try the above pinning method, so as not to cloud the issue.

10

UrlSnooper / Re: Necessary to have WinPcap driver start at boot ???

« on: November 14, 2010, 02:49 AM »

Thanks!

I'll try to look at that a little more as soon as I get a chance and get back to you later if I learn anything worth reporting or have any more questions.

11

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 14, 2010, 02:40 AM »

Maybe I missed it, but did you try what Stoic Joker suggested (and I summarized above in item 4 of my list)?

If not, I still think it will work.  But I think I've figured an even simpler way, where you won't have to edit the shortcut itself (i.e., Path/Target or "Start in" folder).  It's simpler to do than it is to explain, but here goes (in more detail than I'm sure you need, but I'm hoping it will be clear enough for any less experienced future readers):

• 1. create two shortcuts on your desktop [RightClick > Send To > Desktop (create shorcut)], one shortcut to your My(Redirected)DocsXLS file in the redirected MyDocs folder and another shortcut to AnyOtherDocument from anywhere on your local machine (can probably be a shortcut to any kind of file, but I'm going to stay with documents just in case Windows does something invisible based on the filetype when pinning shortcuts that I don't know about)
  
• 2. rename the Shortcut to AnyOtherDocument (not the file it points to) whatever you eventually want your XLS pinned Start Menu shortcut to be named (e.g., MyPinnedXLSLink)
  
• 3. unless you want to permanently keep the MyPinnedXLSLink shortcut on your desktop, move it and the Shortcut to My(Redirected)DocsXLS to wherever you want to keep the MyPinnedXLSLink shortcut on your local machine
  
• 4. pin the MyPinnedXLSLink shortcut to your Start Menu with the Ctrl+Shift+RightClick context menu (or Ctrl+Shift Drag&Drop... ...your choice)
  
• 5. click on the Pinned MyPinnedXLSLink link on the Start Menu (it should still open AnyOtherDocument... ...just checking to make sure it's working properly )
  
• 6. ...(now here's the sleight of hand)... ...rename the MyPinnedXLSLink shortcut on your Desktop or in its permanent location (i.e., NOT the Pinned MyPinnedXLSLink link on the Start Menu) AnythingYouWant
  
• 7. and finally, rename the Shortcut to MyDocsXLS on your Desktop or in its permanent location as MyPinnedXLSLink
  
• 8. click on the Pinned MyPinnedXLSLink link on the Start Menu, and (cross your fingers ) it should open your My(Redirected)DocsXLS file in the redirected MyDocs folder
• 9. if it all works the way you want, you can delete the renamed AnythingYouWant shortcut

This is essentially the same method outlined earlier, but instead of "modifying" the shortcut to point to a different Path/Target, I'm just renaming one working pinned shortcut so I can then rename another shortcut that points to the desired Target in the redirected MyDocs folder with the original pinned shortcut name.  (And maybe I could have just said that and not been so detailed above, but sometimes I can't figure out how to summarize until I've already written it out in detail... ...oh, well!)

Unfortunately, I can't try this on my own network right now because my other machine is down... ...but I've tried it with shortcuts I modified to use the UNC (\\ComputerName\SharedFolder\Resource) network path to files in shared folders on my own working machine (\\WorkingMachine\SharedFolder\TestXLSfile.xls instead of G:\SharedFolder\TestXLSfile.xls) and it worked.  So I think I've tricked my own machine to open a file from a pinned shortcut to what looks (to the machine) like a remote network file (analogous to your situation), even though the files are actually on my local machine. (I hope that's clear enough... ...can't figure out a clearer way to say it right now.)

So I'm smiling now, thinking it will work for you... ...but I hope I'll still be smiling when I see your reply

The problem with copying that file to the local machine is when I sync my laptop with the network at school, that file won't get copied over automatically.

Sure, that would be one of the advantages of a redirected MyDocs folder.  Another might be that if the IT department has a strong backup system in place, all users' MyDocs are regularly being backed up and retrievable if a local machine goes down.  [EDIT:  Oops, I just realized Stoic Joker already said that above: "The point being that everybody's documents are stored in a central location so they can be backed up in a reliable and expedient fashion."]

Let us know if the above works.

12

UrlSnooper / Re: Necessary to have WinPcap driver start at boot ???

« on: November 13, 2010, 02:51 AM »

Sorry to be so long getting back to you... ..been jammed up with other matters.

Yes, I wouldn't have seen the WinPcap installer option either, except this was a fresh URL Snooper install on a fresh Windows install on an old machine, so it didn't already have WinPcap on it [and for other readers (since you undoubtedly know ), the URL Snooper installer only installs WinPcap if it's not already on the system].

I'm not a programmer, so I'm stretching my personal KB here, but what is the (likely) name of the system driver you referred to that wpcap.dll interfaces with?  (I'm assuming you know, as the programmer.)  I guess it's not the npf.sys by CACE Technologies I mentioned, since that apparently isn't loaded and running when URL Snooper is.  The WinPcap installation log indicates the WinPcap installer checked for and found npptools.dll, netnm.inf, and nmnt.sys, so I thought maybe nmnt.sys (a Microsoft Netmon NT Driver) might be the system driver you meant, but according to Autoruns and Process Explorer, it isn't running when URL Snooper is either.  So like I said before, I haven't been able to find anything that seems to be the driver.

I had hoped to figure this out without uninstalling and re-installing WinPcap and URLSnooper, but if you don't know any other way, I'll try to do that as soon as I get a chance and post back with the results.

Thanks!

13

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 12, 2010, 11:22 PM »

Thanks Stoic! (Can we be on a first name basis now? ...just call me gdv )

Well, not that I have any reason to doubt it, but since i can't try it out on my own network right now, I'm still eager to know if it works for you, techidave

Thanks again!

14

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 12, 2010, 10:06 PM »

@techidave & Stoic Joker:  This has really been puzzling me, and now it appears maybe we have an answer, but I'm just wanting to be sure I understand it... ...so I'd like to summarize my understanding and then ask if you can verify for me.

First of all, it seems the answer was at least implied in Stoic Joker's first post in the thread (although I wouldn't have known about redirected MyDocs folders when I first read it):

...the pin to start menu rules require that the item being pinned is (machine local... ...So if you want to pin something else you need to trick Windows into it. Start with an .exe target (that's on LM) to get the shortcut pinned, then edit the shortcut to point to (where/) what you really want. I've done this on Win7 to pin some apps that are in a network share to the start menu here at the office.

-Stoic Joker (November 10, 2010, 03:56 PM)

So I did wonder about documents on a network, and I have 2 computers networked here at home, but the motherboard of one failed recently, so I wasn't able to check my Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click solution with a document from my networked machine before my previous post.  Since I couldn't try it here on my own system, I started to post a question last night about whether the document you, techidave, were trying to Pin to the Start Menu was, by any chance, on a network drive... ...but I ran into another problem and it got too late before I finished the post.

Is your My Documents folder redirected to the server?

-Stoic Joker (November 12, 2010, 12:42 PM)

Yepper, that would be the culprit. Pin a shortcut to a local file first, then modify the shortcut to point to the remote target file.

-Stoic Joker (November 12, 2010, 03:36 PM)

1. Although I was going to ask about whether the document was on a network drive, I knew nothing about redirected folders until I read the above Stoic Joker posts... ...but if I understand correctly, files in any redirected folder (e.g., MyDocs) are physically saved on the server ??? (and not at all on the local machine ???).

2. From my reading, I think I understand the technical differences between a redirected folder and a shared network drive/folder, but from Stoic Joker's remarks, I'm thinking that, at least with respect to Pinning to the Start Menu, a redirected folder would be functionally equivalent to a network drive ???

3. If so, then if my networked machine was functional and I was to try Pinning a document from my other machine to my Start Menu, my understanding is that I would encounter the same limitation techidave has been describing ??? (with both documents and executables ???).

4. But if techidave or I...

• a. create a shortcut to a local executable/document,
  
• b. pin the shortcut (NOT the executable/document) to the Start Menu, and
  
• c. then modify the shortcut to point to the desired executable/document on either a network drive or in a redirected folder,

...then we should be able to have a pinned shortcut to any executable or document in a redirected folder or shared network folder/drive.

I would appreciate it if either of you (techidave or Stoic Joker) would confirm whether my understanding is is correct... ...and if you, techidave, try it out, would you please post back and verify that it worked for you?  (I would just try it myself, but it may be a long time before I get another machine online on my home network, and I'd like to nail down my understanding while the issue is fresh in my mind).

Sorry to be so tediously detailed , but I'm trying to be as clear as possible... ...so maybe you can just say, "yes, yes, no, yes."  

Thanks!  

15

UrlSnooper / Re: Necessary to have WinPcap driver start at boot ???

« on: November 11, 2010, 02:32 AM »

Thanks for your reply , but I went ahead and installed, and now I'm at a loss on how to check this out further. 

FYI, I've attached an image of the WinPcap installer option I mentioned in my OP...

...But now I can't remember for sure if I left it checked or unchecked it.  I think I left it checked, thinking there would probably be an option to change it later, but now I can't find one, and I'm not sure how to tell if the driver is loaded or not.

I don't see anything in Task Manager or Sysinternals' Process Explorer except WPCAP.DLL listed under URLSnooper.exe in Process Explorer while URL Snooper is running... ...but that's not the driver, is it?

I found npf.sys by CACE Technologies (which I think is the driver ?) listed in Sysinternals' Autoruns, but according to the Autoruns Right-click context menu's Process Explorer option, npf.sys is not currently running, even though I currently have URL Snooper running.

Process Explorer also lists \Device\NPF_{1256B1B2-8BEF-440A-8869-F2649E440072} under URLSnooper.exe while URL Snooper is running, but now I'm getting in way over my head and don't know what, if anything, to do with that ???

So what is the WinPcap driver, how can I tell if it is loading at bootup, and how would I change it (i.e., other than maybe running the installer again, or uninstalling and re-installing)?

Thanks again!

16

General Software Discussion / Re: pin a document to start menu

« on: November 11, 2010, 01:19 AM »

If you want to simply add a shortcut to the Start Menu, my preferred method is the same as app103's, even though I'm using the standard WinXP Start Menu, not the Classic Start Menu.

But I think you wanted to pin a document (or a shortcut to a document) to the Start Menu (i.e., so it would appear like "We Need ShortCut Here.txt" does in Stoic Joker's image, assuming you're using the standard WinXP Start Menu, not the Classic Start Menu).

While the standard Right-Click context menu generally only displays the "Pin to Start menu" for programs and shortcuts to programs, I think you'll find that Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click will reveal the "Pin to Start menu" option in the Right-Click context menu with any file or shortcut (e.g., executables, documents, zips, images, mp3s, etc., etc., etc.).  (You will also have to Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click to Unpin from the Start menu.)  This works on my XP Pro system with the standard XP Start Menu (i.e., the one in Stoic Joker's image), but I'm not sure about the Classic Start Menu (when I tried switching to the Classic Start Menu just now, I didn't see the Pin to Start menu option at all).

Let us know if that works!

17

UrlSnooper / Necessary to have WinPcap driver start at boot ???

« on: November 09, 2010, 03:49 AM »

Hello all,

I just installed URL Snooper on a backup clunker machine because my mobo died, and I noticed that the WinPcap installer has an option to have the WinPcap driver start at boot time (which is checked by default).

I don't recall how I had this set up on my other machine.  Is it necessary to have the WinPcap driver start at boot time?  Or if I were to uncheck this, will URL Snooper start the driver when needed (i.e., when I launch URL Snooper)?

Thanks!