Recent Posts

101

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« Last post by Scott on July 09, 2005, 03:21 PM »

Thought I mentioned that in my blathering above...  You'd use F6 to change categories in ClipMate, in both the "classic" and the "explorer" window.  (I don't think that particular hotkey is configurable.)  And you can mark any individual category as a "Favorite" (or not) to determine whether or not it is one of the ones selected by that hotkey.

For example, say you have these ClipMate categories:

Inbox
Personal Info
Black Hole

Then you right click the "Inbox" and "Black Hole" categories in the ClipMate "explorer" window, select Properties, and check the "Favorite" option for each.  You do the same for "Personal Info", except that you leave "Favorite" unchecked.  What will happen, then, is that if you open a ClipMate window and press F6, it will alternate between "Inbox" and "Black Hole", but ignore "Personal Info".

Edit:  It may help to note that, in both the "classic" and "explorer" windows, the title bar changes to relect the name of the currently-selected category.

102

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« Last post by Scott on July 09, 2005, 02:31 PM »

You're welcome, Darwin.  (Love your theory, by the way )  Once you open the "ClipMate Classic" window, you can select an entry using the arrow keys, and simply hit Enter to paste it in whatever application last had focus before bringing up the ClipMate Classic window.  I emphasize that because ClipMate is smart enough to keep track of what window had focus when you brought up the ClipMate Classic window; so, you can actually flip around among windows, yet still have the selected text (or image) pasted automatically into the correct target window.  (This does also mean that if you want to change the window that the text will go to, you will have to close the ClipMate Classic window, then switch to the correct window, then bring up the ClipMate Classic window again.)

You can also double click on an entry shown in the ClipMate Classic window.

I use Ctrl+Shift+C to open the ClipMate Explorer window, but I can't remember if that's the default (and it doesn't matter--you can change it to whatever you want).  ClipMate Explorer doesn't have the "quick paste" feature; you have to select an entry, and then manually paste the data into the target application.  This is how I happen to use ClipMate the vast majority of the time.

103

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« Last post by Scott on July 09, 2005, 02:14 PM »

Yeah, and that's an important feature.  Some applications contain sensitive data that you don't want stashed away in another database, or on the clipboard for eons.  ClipMate lets you prevent clips from being collected by individual applications.

104

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« Last post by Scott on July 09, 2005, 01:42 PM »

ClipX (as mentioned above) is the best freeware clipboard tool I have used.

ClipMate supports hotkeys; you just need to configure it, or figure out what the default hotkeys are.  I have Ctrl+Shift+Q set to bring up "quick paste" window.  There is another hotkey you can use, once there, to switch among your categories (try F6).  The ClipMate Explorer has a different hotkey, and I use F6 to switch between categories there.

105

General Software Discussion / Re: GreatNews RSS Reader

« Last post by Scott on July 08, 2005, 08:22 AM »

Am I the only one who uses WebSite-Watcher as an RSS reader?  It makes sense to me for an RSS reader to have change the notification features of WSW.

I tried using Thunderbird as an RSS reader for awhile, but it would need ten promotions to get to "suck".

106

General Software Discussion / Re: Clipboard manager

« Last post by Scott on July 08, 2005, 06:06 AM »

What capabilities do you need, and how much are you willing to spend?

I use ClipMate, and while some things about it annoy me, I haven't found anything better.  Some freeware options like ClipX are fast, but don't have all the features, of course.

I've also used ClipCache, and it's not too bad.

107

Living Room / Re: Bob Parsons talks of quitting

« Last post by Scott on July 08, 2005, 03:52 AM »

I guess you have to respect that resolve.  Or more bluntly, that set of balls!  But honestly, if it were me, I would have happily sat on my ever-expanding ass after becoming fabulously wealthy the first time.  I much prefer serotonin over adrenaline.

108

Living Room / Re: Bob Parsons talks of quitting

« Last post by Scott on July 08, 2005, 03:41 AM »

I love GoDaddy!

109

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Pre-review Discussion for Graphics Viewers Review

« Last post by Scott on July 06, 2005, 10:28 PM »

Do you mean to say that "ACDSee 8 will do away", rather than "does away"?  Or is it available in beta somewhere?

110

ProcessTamer / Re: also check out process lasso (new free lite version)

« Last post by Scott on July 06, 2005, 10:19 PM »

Anyway...The one-year update policy is something I'll have to think about. Each year will cost you an additional $10 (50% of retail) for updates. Of course, you can continue to download older versions for as long as you want. I have to find a balance between making money and doing service for the community. I would love to give everything away free all the time, forever. But, then how am I going to keep developing software? Its a tricky issue and I hope people consider the other side of the coin.

-db90h (July 06, 2005, 02:01 PM)

I don't see another side to the coin.  I didn't say--and would never say--that any dev should give away free updates.  (One of my pet peeves are people who whine about having to pay for upgrades, even if the upgrade fee is reasonable.)

My problem is with upgrade fees that are based on time frames, rather than version increments.  If you work on a new version, then I feel you have every right to charge an upgrade fee (unless all you did was change a few aspects of the GUI, hoping that a new look would fool people into thinking that it was really a "new" application).

On the other hand, I don't think it is fair to charge people for upgrades just because a certain amount of time has passed.  The kinds of license that really, really piss me off are the ones that are time based, and which require you to pay, even when no updates have been provided.  This is a subscription format, but some authors aren't even honest or forthright to call it that.  Here's one example of what can happen here:  You buy, let's say, version 1.5.  A year and a day goes by, then finally, version 2.0 comes out.  You didn't renew during the past year, because no updates were provided.  But lo and behold, you're no longer eligible for the reduced-price upgrade, because you didn't renew during the first year.

I have no idea if your license is of this type.  I doubt it is, but I'm too tired to check.  Even if it isn't, I can't see any sense in any type of time-based licensing, rather than version-based licensing.

111

ProcessTamer / Re: also check out process lasso (new free lite version)

« Last post by Scott on July 03, 2005, 12:42 PM »

 
I was, of course, just answering mouser's question.  I suppose it's nice to at least know that you can use the native command line facility for this purpose.  It can also be handy to use in batch files.  And it doesn't cost an additional $20 (with one of those greedy, senseless "one-year" update policies).

112

ProcessTamer / Re: also check out process lasso (new free lite version)

« Last post by Scott on July 03, 2005, 01:37 AM »

 
Knowing a little about the command line interface can really help a lot.  You might be surprised with some things you can do with it.  As one small example, I use this shortcut target to observe my PendingFileRenameOperations value, using Sysinternals PendMoves utility.

cmd.exe /c pendmoves & pause & exit

(Of course, this requires that pendmoves.exe be in %path%...)

OT but I figured I'd mention it.  Bastard that I am.
 

113

ProcessTamer / Re: also check out process lasso (new free lite version)

« Last post by Scott on July 03, 2005, 01:32 AM »

 
Yes, use a shortcut with this target:

cmd /c start "" /<priority> <path to application>

e.g.

cmd /c start "" /high calc.exe

And set the shortcut's Run setting to Minimized to prevent the command window from flashing by.
 

114

ProcessTamer / Re: also check out process lasso (new free lite version)

« Last post by Scott on July 02, 2005, 10:06 PM »

He says "Windows provides no method to set the default process priority for specific processes".  Not entirely true, since the START command offers exactly that.

115

Living Room / Re: anyone know a tool to empty recycle bin when drive gets full?

« Last post by Scott on July 02, 2005, 02:35 PM »

 
I use Undelete (Home Edition -- and my how I love when vendors insist on having "editions" of software), but it's a complete Recycle Bin replacement, and doesn't (strictly speaking) meet mouser's requirements.  I find it very nice to have, though.
 

116

Living Room / Re: DonationCoder.com Mascot needed

« Last post by Scott on July 01, 2005, 09:53 PM »

Yeah, you're right--WTF was I thinking?  A keyboard for a mascot...

Let this be a warning to others:  Don't post if you've had less than 10 hours of sleep over the past 4 days.

But I still think the KB/coins would be a nifty logo. 

117

Living Room / Re: DonationCoder.com Mascot needed

« Last post by Scott on July 01, 2005, 08:29 PM »

Why a cat?  It's supposed to be a DonationCoder.com mascot, not a mouser mascot.  I have zero artistic talent, but I know what makes sense, and something that goes along with coding seems to make sense.  An image of a keyboard with some coins scattered across it makes more sense to me than a cat.

118

Living Room / Re: anyone know a tool to empty recycle bin when drive gets full?

« Last post by Scott on July 01, 2005, 08:26 PM »

I know of a freeware command-line tool that returns an errorlevel value of 0 or 1, based on whether or not the amount of free space you specify exists.  This could be put in a command script and run either manually, or by Task Scheduler.  Then, based on the errorlevel out of that, you'd simply run the Disk Cleanup utility (cleanmgr.exe), and empty the Recycle Bin.

It does do what you request, even if it seems kludgy...

The utility I mention is by Douglas Good, and is called IsFree.exe.  Doug seems to have fallen off the internet forever, but I have a copy of this utility, but I won't bother posting it since I doubt it is in line with what you want.

119

Finished Programs / Re: DONE - IDEA: modify system path (System Path Commander)

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 09:21 PM »

Thanks.  Is there any way, with SPC, to add a new entry to the User path, rather than the System path?  (Assuming you're starting with no User path entries at all, so only "SYSTEM.Path" appears in the drop-down list in the first place.)

120

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: extra window functions

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 06:01 PM »

Ugh geez, that thing again?

I was just referring you to software that accomplished what you want.  Actual Window Manager does all that.  It's not free, though.

121

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: extra window functions

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 01:07 PM »

 
Does anyone actually search before posting here?  Do I need to give lessons on how to search?  (I am not being sarcastic, I am serious.  It does take practice.)

Here are some existing utilities that do exactly what was requested:

http://www.actualtools.com/

The big boy of the collection is Actual Window Manager, but there are a few freeware offerings that do bits and pieces of its functionality.
 

122

Living Room / Re: vmware workstation with agnitum outpost firewall rules?

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 07:42 AM »

 
Dealing with VMware networking under a host system messes with your head, no?  (It confuses me sometimes, but then again I average 2 hours of sleep per day.)
 

123

Finished Programs / Re: DONE - IDEA: modify system path (System Path Commander)

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 07:39 AM »

 
You can't just open System Properties applet and click OK out of it--you need to actually make some sort of change for it to resave the value.  Just make some bogus change (such as adding an "X" to the very end of the path), click OK (actually, click OK twice to be sure; I didn't check to see when System Properties saves changes).  Then go back in and undo the bogus change.

If you want to be sure, open Regedit and navigate to this key to make sure the Path value is of type REG_EXPAND_SZ:

[Select]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment

124

Finished Programs / Re: DONE - IDEA: modify system path (System Path Commander)

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 06:45 AM »

OK, I found out the difference between REG_SZ and REG_EXPAND_SZ, and it's an important one, with very serious applications.  The former does not allow variables to be expanded.  Variable expansion is the whole purpose of REG_EXPAND_SZ.

I also found out that the implications of using the wrong data type can be serious.  I just rebooted after using SPC--without making any actual changes to the path itself--and had serious problems afterward.  (To be clear, what I did was uncheck one of the paths shown in SPC, save the changes, then recheck the path, and save the changes again.  Thus, the path didn't change, but SPC's change was in effect.)  The %SystemRoot% variable wasn't expanded after my reboot, thus instead of being "C:\WINDOWS", it was seen as literally "%SystemRoot%".

Running the command "echo %path%" from a command window shows this.  What I see, after rebooting with a REG_SZ value in place, is:

[Select]

C:\Program Files\Console;C:\Program Files\UltraEdit;C:\Program Files\Undelete;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;D:\Data\Batch Files

What I should see, and what appears when REG_EXPAND_SZ is used, is:

[Select]

C:\Program Files\Console;C:\Program Files\UltraEdit;C:\Program Files\Undelete;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;D:\Data\Batch Files

The problems I had included applications that couldn't find supporting files in C:\WINDOWS\system32, and if I let my system lock, it won't let me back in.  I can't even run CHKDSK.EXE normally.  Is this one of those "random features" you talk about? 

Sorry I didn't test SPC earlier.  This was my first time using it.

125

Finished Programs / Re: DONE - IDEA: modify system path (System Path Commander)

« Last post by Scott on June 29, 2005, 01:04 AM »

 
Why does System Path Commander 1.18 change the data type of the Path value from its default of REG_EXPAND_SZ, to REG_SZ?  Windows XP always changes it back to the REG_EXPAND_SZ type, when the System Properties applet is used to edit the Path.