Messages

6476

General Software Discussion / Re: Favorite ZIP/RAR application?

« on: August 23, 2005, 03:07 PM »

Yeah, I've got both Directory Opus (Dopus) and Diskjockey File Viewer Deluxe installed and they both do this... It's such a useful feature, I'd be surprised if a file manager DIDN'T do this... Does Windows Explorer do this in XP, given XP's native support for zip? I have to ask because one of the first things I did when I got XP was to turn OFF the native zip support - seemed irrelevant with Dopus and PKZip installed.

6477

General Software Discussion / Re: Favorite ZIP/RAR application?

« on: August 23, 2005, 01:58 PM »

Hi Skywalka,

Good point... unfortunately, I can't answer that question. I've had Dopus installed for ages and set up as my default File Manager. It offers this feature (treating zip and some other archive files as regular folders) so I never even noted that feature in ZipMagic/Stuff-It 9, which I uninstalled a week or so ago. However, according to Allume one of the new features of Stuff-It, actually listed under a section called "ZipMagic", is that it will allow the user to treat zip files as folders.

One thing I should make clear, is that I was talking about what Allume is calling "ZipMagic Deluxe" (as opposed to ZipMagic 4), which you can view here: http://www.stuffit.com/win/zipmagic/. According to the website,

"ZipMagic Deluxe 9.0 and StuffIt Deluxe for Windows 9.0 have exactly the same features, so if you are currently using StuffIt Deluxe 9.0 you do not need to upgrade to ZipMagic. You already have the ZipFolders technology and the JPEG compression features that are available in ZipMagic. While Allume will continue selling products on Windows under the StuffIt brand, ZipMagic will become the new brand for Allume's compression products in retail. "

Mike

6478

General Software Discussion / Re: Favorite ZIP/RAR application?

« on: August 23, 2005, 09:33 AM »

Allume has just re-released ZipMagic and it runs on XP. However, it is (AFAIK) simply a "re-badged" version of Stuff-It 9 i.e. they are both the same product. From what I gather, in future there will be no Stuff-It for Windows - there'll be Stuff-It for Macintosh and ZipMagic for Windows.

6479

General Review Discussion / Re: Best Archive Manager Review: Suggestions

« on: August 22, 2005, 10:16 AM »

Yeah, I've got to say I agree with this as well. My usage sounds similar to Mouser's - I've always got at least one Dopus window open and don't need another faux file manager opening each time I want to zip/unzip a file. That's why context menu support is important to me.

6480

General Software Discussion / Re: Useful Windows 'inventory' tool

« on: August 20, 2005, 01:41 PM »

I use Winalysis 3.0 (it's shareware at http://www.winalysis.com -$55). I purchased a license back when I was running Win2k as I wanted something akin to system restore. I'm still running it under WinXP Pro, but use it primarily to compare snapshots of my system (particularly my registry) rather than as a restore tool, which it is certainly capable of. In fact, it can be configured to create zip files containing files/folders/drives and restore them. You can search through these snapshots and select specific files to restore (rather than being forced to restore everything within the zip file). You can set it up to take automatic snapshots via a scheduler.

This is from the website:

 Make compressed Snapshots of local and remote computer configurations. 
 Archive Event Logs from multiple machines to a central database.
 Restore a system from a snapshot.
 Analyze changes and security vulnerabilities.
 Generate Alerts when critical events occur.

Apparently, there is a new release of Winalysis on its way, as the developer was receptive to a suggestion that I e-mailed him a few months ago and promised to try to incorporate it into the next version. He didn't give me any sort of a timeline, though.

Anyway, no doubt this goes way beyond the scope of the software that Carol posted about, and it's certainly not free, but I thought I'd mention it anyway...

6481

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 17, 2005, 07:09 PM »

Love the imagery (on reflection, do I? Hmm... maybe not, but funny nonetheless) of "trying to look at my own asshole without a mirror". Best laugh of the day!

Do you know your username and password for PCMag? If so, do you run any sort of download manager and/or an Internet privacy service (Ghostsurf, Ad-muncher, Anonymizer, etc.)? If you do, PCMag is really finicky about this - you'll get a useless 12 byte file called something like 0~00 if you try to use a download manager, for example. Anyway, I've had troubles logging in in the past, which I've been able to resolve. If you want to post more details about your specific problem I *might* be able to help... You can contact me off the forum, too, if you'd prefer, or if you think that would be more appropriate.

6482

General Review Discussion / Re: Best Archive Manager Review: Suggestions

« on: August 17, 2005, 06:09 PM »

Cool. There's a wide range of users out their with an even greater range of archiving needs and a tool such as ALZip might be all (even more than) they need. Truth be told, I am probably one of those people!

6483

General Review Discussion / Re: Best Archive Manager Review: Suggestions

« on: August 17, 2005, 12:07 AM »

Hi Zaine,

Funny, you posted this just as I finished uninstalling Stuff-It. I took a good hard look at it and uninstalled it for reasons similar to those that you mention with respect to ZipGenius and PowerArchiver - there are a lot of bells and whistles but they don't necessarily enhance the user experience. At any rate, not to worry about including ALZip, I really just suggested it because I didn't see it on your initial list. If as you're writing the review you feel that it will benefit from ALZip's inclusion, great, but otherwise save your time and words for better executed candidates.

I'm really looking forward to this review - I didn't expect to really care that much, but over the last couple of days I've come to realise how much I depend on archiving utilities and am keen to see which apps come out on top.

Thanks for taking this one on board, Zaine, and thanks, too for the Great Software site - among other things you led me here and to some fantastic software!

Best,

Mike

6484

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 16, 2005, 09:57 PM »

Hmmm... that is bad, really bad. They give those people paying $19.95 for the utilities free access to the on-line version of the magazine but not the other way around for people (presumably) paying much more for the print version of the mag. Actually, it is not so much bad as just plain ridiculous (=STUPID!). Anyway, I purchased a subscription to the apps when I was still running a machine with win98 and found that I used a good number of them. I felt that I would have paid 19.95 for any single one of them so didn't mind shelling that amount out for unfettered access to the entire catalogue. Now I'm on WinXP and Win2k and find that I am not using ANY of them. I had already decided not to renew but have now had that decision reinforced by Mouser's comment.

Live and learn.

6485

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 16, 2005, 06:19 PM »

I forgot about Startup Control Panel - that's the app that set me off down this path about 5 years ago. It doesn't have any sort of database associated with it directly or via the Internet though, as far as I can recall...

6486

General Review Discussion / Re: Best Archive Manager Review: Suggestions

« on: August 16, 2005, 11:45 AM »

Hi again,

Point taken about ALZip, but I wanted to stress that it is freeware (for personal use) that offers, among other things, sfx creation, file repair, opening of 35 formats and archiving in 8 of them, and file splitting/joining of archives (the last feature only when using its native format, ALZ) whereas Pocozip and ACDZip are shareware products that cost as much as PKZip, WinZip and Stuff-It... Still, I will be neither suprised (read following) nor offended if it doesn't make the cut for consideration in the review.

Now having said the foregoing, I've looked at tugzip's homepage and after reading the feature list, looking at the screenshots, and reading the comments here can only say "wow" - this is freeware?! I'm not installing it - yet - but am awaiting the outcome of the review, which I will be reading it with interest.

6487

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 16, 2005, 12:24 AM »

I'd forgotten about Startup Cop Pro. I have a copy but don't have it installed (though I did play around with it and was impressed). There are some very nice features with the latest version... Anyway, you can buy PC Mag's apps for $5 each, if you don't have a subscription (the subscription is $19.95 a year and comes with full access to the magazine on line as well, not that I've found that very useful, given the nightmare organisation of the website....).

6488

Find And Run Robot / Re: Bug: No focus after Alt-Space

« on: August 15, 2005, 06:54 PM »

I'd be interested in seeing support for the ALT-SPACEBAR shortcut. As the original poster noted, coming from (in my case) AppRocket, I still find myself hitting that key combination to try to bring up F&R. Interesting that I've never noticed the problem reported though. I guess I am still locked into using the mouse as I've always just clicked on F&R's app window to bring it into focus and started typing. I can't believe that I never noticed that, actually.

6489

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 15, 2005, 06:19 PM »

PS I also own WinTasks Pro and like it a lot. Increasingly, though, I find myself using Taskman instead... WinTasks is powerful but not nearly as configureable as I would like. For example, I find the information that it will display (the columns that you can add to view) limited in terms of its configureability and one of the selling points for me when I bought it - the way it displays running processes paths, etc. now annoys me! I'd like just to be able to sort it and find the exe file name, PERIOD, not have to wade through all the path names or the complete name of the file, including the author's name (svchost.exe rather than Microsoft Service Host Process. Picky, picky, I know). For another, I can't find any means of displaying Virtual Memory usage. I should play around with it more as I can't believe that this isn't an option that's already present.

Haven't tried it as a startup manager. I purchased it as a Taskman replacement and already had WinPatrol for Startup management. Given that I've been following Scott's creed of late and trying to purge my system of bloat (I have multiple file managers, file viewers, archive managers, etc.) perhaps I should revisit this and see if one or the other of these apps is a candidate for removal... Hmmm. Food for thought.

Hope this helps (I have a wicked case of verbal diarrhea, yet have an appalling case of writer's - thinker's - block with my dissertation. Interesting...).

6490

General Software Discussion / Re: startup/tasks manager?

« on: August 15, 2005, 06:03 PM »

You might try WinPatrol, which comes in both free and shareware (Plus) versions. It sounds like it might be what you're after, though I am not sure that its database is as comprehensive as you might be looking for...

WinPatrol offers information on processes similar to that offered by WinTasks, though it doesn't provide nearly the information that WinTasks does  - it's not really meant to be a Taskman replacement. It organises running tasks, startup tasks, processes, etc. into tabs along the top of the app. window. You can select any startup item, running task, process, etc. and then click a button for more information on it. With the Plus version, you can further select the option of going to the WinPatrol website for more information and analysis.

You can grab it here:

http://www.winpatrol.com/winpatrol.html (download link)
http://www.winpatrol.com (information)

6491

Image Manager Shootout / Re: The new addendum to the ACDSee Review..

« on: August 15, 2005, 03:34 PM »

Yeah, I second vegas' view that interactions like these (or lack of interaction it seems!) should be highlighted on the review pages. There is nothing more frustrating than paying for a software license and then never being able to get a response from the app author/company to questions/feature requests/bug reports. It's not just frustrating, it can be infuriating!

Anyway, most definitely a highly appreciated and useful part of the review.

6492

General Review Discussion / Re: Best Archive Manager Review: Suggestions

« on: August 15, 2005, 01:18 PM »

Hi Zaine,

A zipping utility that I don't see on your list is ALTools' freeware app ALZip, which can be found here: http://www.altools.n...efault.aspx?tabid=53. I no longer have it installed (needed to do so to extract an mp3 for my wife that was archived using ALZip's proprietary format), but it seemed feature rich and easy to use.

Myself, I have PKZip (bought it years ago and am very used to it) and Stuff-It Deluxe (got a great deal on it from Allume about a year ago - I'm one of those people who is perpetually on the brink of bankruptcy thanks to all the things I have bought to save money ) installed and CANNOT decide which one to keep and which to get rid of! I guess it boils down to the fact that I simply don't use the feature set of either enough to make an informed decision. I keep returning to WinRar, too, in the sense that I love some of the features that it has, such as the repair tool, but at this point can't justify forking out more money for ANOTHER utility when I believe that I already have two very good stand alone compression utilities AND a file manager that does a decent job, too).

Actually, while we're on the subject, my favourite app is Dopus and it's got built in zip/unzip functionality that goes beyond that of XP's native support, as does Diskjockey File Viewer (http://www.clear-simple.com/ - yes, I own both of these, too, refer to my comment above re: saving money, or should that be a fool and his money?). I don't know which of the other Explorer replacements have this feature but it seems pretty common, so you might consider looking at some of these applications and their compression features as well. Hmmm... I guess you're going to have to draw the line somewhere otherwise you'll never finish the review!

Cheers,

Mike

6493

Find And Run Robot / Just a suggestion/request/thought

« on: July 19, 2005, 05:01 PM »

Hi all,

Just thought I'd pop in here as there have been a lot of interesting suggestions made with respect to future functionality in Find&Run. I just wanted to offer the suggestion that any new functionality be added in a step-wise fashion. That is, the current version works well but would benefit from a number of "tweaks" - the ability to select the hot key(s) to activate it, context menu options to create an alias from a search result, and so on. So, "tweak" the current version without adding any major new functionality. That way, users who really just want a super fast launcher get what they want.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say (Does it show )... I guess the logical outcome of my suggestion is that there would be two versions of F&R. One that takes the fast launcher concept as far as it will go and another version that takes that as its base and continues to add functionality, such as text substitution and so on.

Just my convoluted two-bits.

6494

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 16, 2005, 10:20 AM »

Hi all and in particular Scott - I've heard back from the developer of XFilesDialog and he seemed receptive to modifying the sound notification in the next trial version which is a plus but wasn't too hot on the idea of changing his pricing No big surprises there. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to mention the splash screen at startup. I'm so used to it at this point that I'd forgotten about it. Of course, now that it's been brought to my attention again, it's bugging me!

6495

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 03:34 PM »

Ha ha ha - thanks, Scott. I know you are writing out of frustration, but the "thumb up the ass" line gave me the best laugh of the week!

6496

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 11:15 AM »

Well... I just dashed off a missive to the developer of XFilesDialog suggesting that potential customers may be being turned off by the subscription policy and its pricing and by features of the trial such as having a sound event triggered each time a window is processed. I *hope* that I was diplomatic enough to have my comments taken in the spirit in which they were intended. We shall see!

6497

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 15, 2005, 10:48 AM »

Yeah , that  is nonsense. Why make your app that annoying in trial mode? Nag screens are annoying, too, but at least they generally pop up once when you start the program and then you can use it normally thereafter. I had a look in the registry but all I could find were keys related to all the programs with Open/Save dialogs modified by XFilesDialog...

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General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 07:01 PM »

Ha ha - the sound card on my notebook bit it with 8 days of manufacturer warranty left. They wanted me to pay for s/h to and from Texas (I'm in Canada) to honour the warranty so I've opted to use the extended three year warranty that I purchased from the retailer. However, as I've 18 months left to go I've been too lazy to take it in to be sent off (for three weeks! Life without a computer for three weeks - are they nuts?!) and am thus without sound. However, in the version of XFilesDialog that I have, and this may be one of those options that are unavailable in the trial, selecting the "general" tab under "settings" (accessible by right clicking on the sys.tray icon) allows you to clear the radio button for "sound when processing a window".

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General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 03:06 PM »

Thanks - you just saved me the bother of giving Folders Express a trial. When I started down the path of looking for something to augment my Open/Save dialogs it was specifically to enable me to make "details" view the default. The resizing and everything else was just gravy (and of course I now find indispensible)! No details view is a deal breaker for me

6500

General Software Discussion / Re: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May

« on: July 14, 2005, 10:27 AM »

Ouch! Thanks for the heads up about this. I am getting seriously ticked off at these kind of licensing practices - unfortunately, I've only become "savvy" to the differences in various licensing options recently and have purchased quite a few apps that feature these sorts of licenses in the past. I wasn't aware that XFilesDialog was one of them. I'll have to give FolderExpress a closer look. Of course, I have to stop and consider if I need to keep upgrading XFilesDialog - it's working perfectly for me right now at version 3.11 - I'll upgrade while my present license allows me to and when my license expires stick with the latest version that I have, rather than fork out more money for another product (Folder Express looks really good, by the way).

C'est la vie...

Mike