Messages

101

Living Room / Re: Why are computers getting slower (and what we can do about it)?

« on: June 08, 2008, 07:19 PM »

Multitasking is what slows me down.
But I have all this going-which isn't much compared to some....

-cmpm (June 08, 2008, 08:54 AM)

You don't have much in your tray from the looks of it, but looking at firefox, are those all extensions or just shortcuts to bookmarks up in the address bar? If there were many shortcuts, that could explain why its slow. Plus its firefox of course. Though I keep hearing that version 3 will address all those memory leak issues.

102

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Take Command Console LE from JPSoft

« on: June 08, 2008, 08:37 AM »

How does this compare to tools like PowerCmd and Windows Powershell? I've used Powershell before and enjoyed it, but also found that it took longer to start up than regular Command Console by a few seconds.

103

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Take Command Console LE from JPSoft

« on: June 07, 2008, 08:40 PM »

Is this the same company that develops Editpad Lite and pro?

104

Living Room / Re: Why are computers getting slower (and what we can do about it)?

« on: June 07, 2008, 07:12 PM »

I recommend getting WinPatrol, which is free and installing it on your computer. There's also a portable version available. It can show all the start-up programs on your computer. You can then choose to disable the unnecessary ones and delay the less important ones.

I've used the delay feature to push all the less important services and programs to start up well after 2 minutes. I also leave a gap of 20 seconds between each of the delayed program starting, so they don't all hog the CPU at once. This has reduced the boot time of my computer to under 1 minute (time from boot to get to desktop). After 1 minute, my computer is responsive and I can already start launching programs.

105

General Software Discussion / Re: Software for use with scanner?

« on: June 04, 2008, 05:11 AM »

I use PrecisionScan Pro which came with my HP scanner, and I personally think its excellent, but I am not sure if it will work with non-HP scanners.

106

Living Room / Re: AGP 4x on 8x Mainboard

« on: June 02, 2008, 09:09 PM »

I plugged in the 4X video card and got no output. I know the card works somewhat since I tested it on another system. I'm guessing the board is probably busted. Does anyone know if a 8x video card will work on a 4x slot (i.e. is the card backward compatible as well)?

107

Living Room / AGP 4x on 8x Mainboard

« on: June 02, 2008, 07:22 PM »

A friend recently left me his nice desktop, but its missing the video card. The mainboard is a Gigabyte GA-8IPE775. According to the specs, its needs a 8X video card, but I have another 4x lying around.

Are the mainboards backward compatible?

108

Living Room / Re: The 10 most annoying programs on the Internet

« on: June 02, 2008, 12:48 AM »

#8 is quite easy to get rid off, just reformat and reinstall Windows. I know that's not a realistic option for non-techies, plus manufacturers never give you a true Windows XP copy, just a recovery disc. But, even if you had to pirate it, it would be better to have a clean illegal XP rather than a crapware fill original installation where you can't even decide how it should be partitioned. Plus, what the heck is that recovery partition for anyway? It doesn't even compare to a real acronis disc image.

109

Find And Run Robot / Re: LifeHacker vote, stage 2, final voting

« on: June 01, 2008, 06:53 PM »

Totally missed this thread, went and voted just now, but not sure if its still counts. I was a Launchy 1.25 user and then moved over to Slickrun when I saw that it had a more memory efficient usage. After my 2GB ram upgrade, went to FARR and never looked back since. Took me a while to configure all the plugins, but totally worth it, being able to integrate with locate32, ninjawords, Google Calculator and all.

Now, I recommend FARR for anyone with more than 512 MB of RAM or more and Slickrun for older machines. I know FARR runs on older machines too and can be set to use less memory, but there's something about Slickrun's simplicity and instant appearance that I like. Slickrun or Launchy are good introductions to people who've never used keyboard launchers at all and FARR can be introduced once they have become used to the concept.

Simple aesthetic features FARR should add :

- Ability to hide tray icon. I know its not a big deal, but if you have many other apps in the tray, its only so long before the tray is more than half the length of the task bar. In fact, I think this option should be added to all background running programs.

110

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Disktrix's UltimateDefrag V1 released as freeware !

« on: June 01, 2008, 08:57 AM »

I've been a long user of JKDefrag as well, but I find its fast optimization extremely slow. The defrag works alright. I've recently switched to using Contig by Sysinternals, its command line based but there's a GUI called Power Defragmenter. Contig is simple and fuss free, can be run as a portable too.

111

C / C++ / IDE or tool that can automatically generate UML chart

« on: May 30, 2008, 06:12 AM »

While making a post over at this thread, I was wondering if there is an IDE which can automatically generate a UML diagram from code? It would greatly help me visualize what I'm writing instantly. Needed to work C++.

112

C / C++ / Re: Managing Large code with Object Oriented Programming

« on: May 30, 2008, 06:07 AM »

Thanks for the tips so far, I've used Thinking with C++, its what our course recommended as a reference as well. Embarrassingly, I only learnt about 3 weeks ago that there was a standard for documenting code and even naming classes and functions. Till then, I assumed that clear descriptive names would suffice, which is what I've always used in C. But then I've never written a software for use by anyone besides myself.

This is the standard I've used for this assignment, I'm not sure if that's same all over the industry.

I was also taught some UML at the end and was wondering if coders in industry actually start with a UML diagram and proceed to code? During this assignment, I started writing code with the main and then worked my way downwards. But then, I used to also work upwards and started from the lowest level child classes at the same time, while writing some of the in between functions in various files, which were all open at the same time. Later, someone told me about top down and bottom up approaches, but I never quite understood it. Are these coding methods purely concepts or can they be strictly adhered to in reality? Meaning, would a top down approach be strictly top down (i.e. create a file, write all the functions in it and don't come back to it until compile time).

113

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« on: May 30, 2008, 05:03 AM »

I've recently started using WinPatrol, mainly for security reasons, but it does come with a feature called delayed start whereby some programs and services can be set to start later to avoid the computer 'hanging' upon login. I believe that StartRight does something similar.

114

C / C++ / Managing Large code with Object Oriented Programming

« on: May 30, 2008, 04:51 AM »

I've taken a course this semester at my university in Object Oriented Programming. I was a decent C and C++ procedural programmer and didn't think that object oriented programming would be that difficult. How wrong I was.

I was unable to complete the course assignment. Or rather, I completed it and spent even longer on debugging it to find out why it crashed. In the end, I was unable to locate the logical errors, but submitted the assignment anyway. Eager to get the project out of the way, I had started writing code fast, but without a good design.

What I realized was that while I understood the syntax of the language, I was not taught any code design and management skills (don't know if I should blame my Uni or myself there), which eventually led to my downfall. I rewrote large sections of the code 3 times, wasting time as the design was not completely object oriented (e.g. other classes could control the behavior of some classes, rather than each class being able to control its own behaviour and attributes). Soon, I found myself facing thousands of lines of code, over a dozen classes and over 50 to 60 different functions (some with very similar names, but in different classes!). Couldn't even figure out where the logical errors where anymore and just reading the code became hard.

Conclusion:

What I would like to learn now is how to organize a project like this better. I am set to graduate soon and my first job ironically enough is going to be in writing software. I don't want to repeat my mistakes above.

I want to ideally be able to make the best possible design (with execution efficiency and future maintanence) once, write the code once, debug once and be done with it. I am willing to read up extra books to educate myself on this design issue.

So, kind fellow DC members, please throw some tips. How do you organize your large code? I would also like to know how much of a big deal Object Oriented Programming is. After this assignment, I've started disliking it as I wasted too much time trying to contain everything inside classes, eliminate friend functions and so on. This even led to longer lines of code and seems counter productive to me.

115

C / C++ / Re: C++ Programming Resources

« on: May 30, 2008, 04:32 AM »

Its worth noting that after a lot of development, Code::Blocks has finally hit a stable release (v8.02)and I've been using it for my programming courses this semester. Its quite decent. Download here : http://www.codeblocks.org

116

General Software Discussion / Re: Need to track missing space on my Hard Drive

« on: April 27, 2008, 03:48 AM »

Thanks everyone, I found the culprit. It was Rollback Rx as I had suspected. For those who are interested to know why and how this happened, read on.

Firstly, I should mention that till this incident occured, I greatly enjoyed using Rollback Rx. I tried FD-ISR, which had some trouble working well on my machine, but Rollback had none of that. Snapshots took up little space and rolling back operations were perfect, it was literally like going back in time before that problem happened. Blows System Restore away.

Problem: Incremental snapshots are supposed to save space by only tracking the parts that have changed on the drive, so being more space efficient in theory. The problem is that Rollback seems to track every change since the last snapshot. There is a way to exclude certain folders, which I used, but still found myself with huge snapshots. The following threads explain in further detail:

1. Rollback Rx Eats Space
2. Rollback Rx Eats Space again
3. Why is my snapshot so big?

In addition, while the threads linked to above and the official FAQ state that deleting a snapshot will recover the space, I found that deleting a 16,000 MB unlocked snapshot did nothing to free my space as claimed.

Solution: The problem was finally solved when I uninstalled Rollback Rx for good. The uninstall happens quickly in Windows, but the immediately subsequent reboot after that uninstall takes over 20 minutes while Rollback erases itself and the snapshots for good. Further reboots are okay.

Conclusion: Despite the powerful features of Rollback, I feel that its too difficult for me to understand and fine tune to my needs. On the other hand, using Rollback has convinced me of the power of Drive Imaging. Its been a life saver for corrupted installs and those driver issues when trying to install and uninstall hardware. I will continue to use Drive Imaging, but will probably try out another program like what's suggested in the DC Backup Guide.

117

General Software Discussion / Re: Need to track missing space on my Hard Drive

« on: April 26, 2008, 04:24 PM »

I've tried the reboot, no use, it only freed up a further 1GB. I still don't know where 12GB went. I have not narrowed it down to a suspect: Rollback Rx.

I tried changing a setting in the program to prevent it from taking snapshots of some of the drives. I remember opening Rollback and under the snapshot history, it had a proposed snapshot of 16,000 MB! I deleted that snapshot right away, but I still have not got my space back. I'm thinking of uninstalling rollback, but unfortunately, I need the snapshots. Does anyone know where the snapshots themselves are stored?

118

General Software Discussion / Need to track missing space on my Hard Drive

« on: April 26, 2008, 06:28 AM »

I've suddenly lost about 13GB of space on my hard drive. Its literally lost. WinDirStat and Treesize report that the size of all the contents on the drive is 10GB. The drive is 27GB in size. Yet, I only have 4 GB of freespace. Somehow, there resides a set of files or folders on my drive that is occupying about 13Gb and is invisible to windows. I would like to know if there are any tools that I can run from a CD, loaded into RAM at bootup that can track missing space on my hard drive.

I am going to give spacemonger a try, but I am not too hopeful, since these space hogging files are missing from Windows itself.

119

Living Room / Re: My New website ...

« on: April 26, 2008, 02:55 AM »

The website seems simple and to the point, which is the way most customers would like it. Wasn't too sure about the point of the intro splash page with the sheep, but I'm glad at least its not another lame flash movie intro that suddenly plays music.

I assume the purpose of this site at this point is to merely inform and provide a point of contact rather than act as an online service with support tickets and so on. Maybe that would be a future step, but its good to plan a site with future expansion in mind. Is the whole site just done is old fashioned HTML or does it use a CMS?

120

General Software Discussion / Re: Who used up the bandwidth/allocated traffic for the month ?

« on: April 24, 2008, 05:48 AM »

I would suggest a 2 part solution:

1) Install Netmeter on each machine to allow the user to know their own bandwidth usage. But, each user can reset this and hence erase the records or simply exit the program before a heavy download. Hence, part 2 :

2) Configure the router and set up a bandwidth limiting rule for each allotted IP address on the network. Make sure that the IP is assigned static per MAC address so that each machine's IP always stays constant. When a person reaches within 80% of their allowed limit, lower their speed so that they stay within the limit. PortForward has many guides on port forwarding and configuring several brands and models of routers..

121

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AIMP: tiniest memory usage for a music player, library, tabs; beats XMplay

« on: April 24, 2008, 05:27 AM »

I can recommend Billy version 1.04k. Loads hundreds of files in seconds and supports last.fm as well as flac file formats. Not sure about replaygain and BASS support though.

And if you need a realtively lightweight music player that can support last.fm, libraries, replaygain, file renaming, album art and still be insanely customizable, there's really only one choice  Sorry, but no matter how many times I try to go away, I always find myself coming back to foobar. Its one of those things that Windows users can really brag about having.

122

General Software Discussion / Re: Carbonite Online Backup

« on: April 23, 2008, 10:35 PM »

I remember specifically asking Dreamhost about this before I signed up 2 years ago and their staff at that time told me that as long as I did not exceed the alloted storage space, they did not care what I stored on it, as long as it was legal (no warez). Of course, the fine print did say that they reserve the right to change the policies at any time.

I also do not see how they can differentiate between data backup files and web hosting files. All I'd have to do is set up an online File/FTP manager on a domain (like net2ftp) and then access my files through that to claim that I am after all using the files as part of a website.

123

General Software Discussion / Re: Carbonite Online Backup

« on: April 21, 2008, 01:36 AM »

I suggest getting a hosting account from Dreamhost, which comes with over a 100GB of storage space that grows weekly. Then, use a program like Super Flexible File Synchronizer to regularly update your remote date with the local one. The real problem is that depending on your upload speed and size of data, the initial synchronization can take a while. I have over 20 GB of personal data alone.

124

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: Install/startup problem wit GridMove

« on: April 15, 2008, 05:22 PM »

Sorry, not autopatcher, I meant to say autohothey. Somehow, I still kept getting the same error, so I went and downloaded the installer, which works fine now. Thanks.

125

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / GridMoveP2.ahk cannot be opened

« on: April 13, 2008, 04:51 AM »

I get the following error when I try to start up GridMoveP1.ahk using autopatcher. I didn't have this problem before when I used the .exe install file of GridMove. Is there any difference between using the .ahk file and the .exe install file?
[attach=#1][/attach]

edit by jgpaiva: changed attach tag