Recent Posts

1026

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 06:26 PM »

Very few printer manufacturers actively support Linux - and then only a small selection of distros.

I can understand why manufacturers go for Windows and Mac only because that is where the market is.

Trouble with ditching my printer to use Linux is that I actually like Canon printers - for me they just work, and they work well. Other manufacturers (HP and Epson) produce noisy and temperamental printers and drivers at best, Bother produce Linux drivers and I like their laser printers but I haven't had a good experience of their inkjets.

1027

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 10:49 AM »

Turboprint[/url] sells a printer driver utility for Linux that claims to support most Canon printers, as well as HP, Epson and Brother.

-xtabber (March 03, 2012, 09:05 AM)

Yes I tried Turbo print on my last Linux outing - wasn't that impressed. OK it worked, but the output quality was crap and it only supported printing not multifunctionals.

I love the way the compatibility page points people to two Canon websites - one in Japanese that when you translate it is a 404 error and the other is the standard Canon download site - Canon don't (AFAIK) produce any Linux drivers - so why send people there looking for Linux drivers?

Sadly that compatibility page still reflects my experiences of every time I have tried Linux - the best I can hope for is a crappy piece of software that I have to purchase to get substandard printout or use a basic BubbleJet emulator - both of which mean I lose almost all none basic print functionality.

1028

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 06:13 AM »

The definitive answer is in their own words "desktop is the legacy interface".

By removing the option to re-enable the Start menu (albeit a single registry value) that was present in the early preview releases for developers I think MS are making it clear that Metro is where they think the future of Windows will be and they want to discourage the use of the desktop as soon as possible - heck it won't even be available on ARM tablets and phones.

This shouldn't come as any surprise - they have seen the cash cow Apple has produced in iOS (whatever you think of that OS) and they want to get in on the act. Metro, they think, will be the new MS cash cow but to my mind all it will do is alienate an awful lot of their most loyal customer base.

1029

Living Room / Re: Amazon pulls thousands of e-books... and the SFWA strikes back

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 05:50 AM »

PResumably if it is not in the public domain in the US then you can't sell it as though it was - which seems fair enough.

Sooner or later someone will have to sort out the broken copyright laws - we live in a global marketplace now and one set of agreed rules should apply. It would be good to have a new set of rules drawn up - preferably without US media interests being the dominant force!

1030

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 05:41 AM »

I also have a wireless Brother HL-2270DW laser printer - I have to confess I haven't looked for that but it would need to work.

-Carol Haynes (March 01, 2012, 07:00 PM)

You can find Linux drivers for most Brother printers (including the HL-2270DW) here

-xtabber (March 02, 2012, 09:45 PM)

Thanks - now I just need to find something for the Canon!

1031

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 03, 2012, 05:40 AM »

I thought you were supposed to be able to turn all that metro stuff off (for a "normal" desktop experience) ??

-tomos (March 03, 2012, 02:38 AM)

No - in earlier releases there was a registry tweak to do that but they have removed it.

Hell they have even removed the windows icon on the desktop where the start menu used to be.

1032

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 02, 2012, 06:25 PM »

Windows XP has been the single most successful OS for Microsoft. OK it took some time to be picked up by businesses.

Vista is the only operating system where I have seen the unwashed electing to upgrade to Windows 7 - it was that awful.

Windows 7 is pretty good and solid but after the Vista debacle huge numbers of businesses have simply stuck with XP. I have sourced copies of XP for business customers who want to replace windows 7 on new machines - that's the level of reluctance (however misplaced) I have seen.

I can't see any business anywhere opting to move to Windows 8 for any reason whatsoever.

Businesses are however acutely aware of security issues and the fact that XP support is coming to an end.

Either they will bite the bullet and move to Windows 7 while it is still available or they will look for an alternative. I can't see any business adopting Windows 8 if they can possibly avoid it.

Heck - I can't see many average home users wanting Windows 8 on a desktop - with or without a touch screen.

PS: My reference to mass exodus was in terms of businesses who have the potential to move to Linux or Mac - actually I think Mac is probably more likely in the long term - MS have lost the plot.

1033

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 to offer nine versions for sale

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 02, 2012, 06:14 PM »

And they will all be totally pants on the desktop.

Been playing with the preview and it is REALLY annoying to try and do anything.

All the Metro Apps are badly designed for anyone using a mouse (including the start screen).

Scrolling right and left the whole time gives me repetitive strain injury after about half an hour.

Which ones of these will sell:

ARM edition (And will probably be the best of the bunch - but only when some decent apps appear)
Starter Edition on Netbooks - because OEMs will have no choice
Home editions on laptops and desktops because OEMs have no choice.

I would personally be surprised if MS sell a single copy of any of the Pro, Ultimate or Enterprise offerings if they look even remotely like the preview - unless they count the ones they sell to their own staff!

Grief there is probably a majority of businesses still using XP and are reluctant to move to 7 - I can see the Win 8 versions causing a mass exodus to Linux when XP support is withdrawn.

1034

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: turn IE proxy server on/off

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 02, 2012, 03:42 PM »

The other approach is to use Firefox in one location and IE In the other - they can have independent proxies.

1035

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 01, 2012, 07:00 PM »

OK here is a challenge then - can someone point at a distro and driver package that will properly support my ethernet based all-in-one PIXMA MX850 (by which I mean as good as Canon's native Windows drivers - including paper profiles for different types of printing, scaling output, double sided, booklet printing etc.) - that means printing good quality, scanning from the computer (and ideally scanning at the printer to the computer) and the use of the auto-document feeder. Preferably an easy to install driver package.

I tried searching for it and the only solution I could find was for SANE which requires compiling and testing  - not something I want to have to do just to get a printer working. I found lots of people complaining across a range of distros that they were trying to find a solution for this printer.

I also have a wireless Brother HL-2270DW laser printer - I have to confess I haven't looked for that but it would need to work.

1036

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by Carol Haynes on March 01, 2012, 02:26 AM »

Interesting new thread. Over the years I have tried Corel Linux (ended badly), Mandrake, SuSe, Fedora and Mint and have always retreated fairly rapidly because of hardware/driver issues.

I haven't dabbled now for a good few years so I would be really interested to know how you get on with things like video, sound and printer support - in particular printer support, esp. as many printers are now network ready and often all in one.

In particular I really like Canon printers and they just don't do Linux - in the past I had very poor experiences trying to get any printer working beyond getting a sheet of poorly presented text (usually the printing was much blacker and thicker than printing from official drivers and almost never positioned consistently on the paper. I suppose it is what comes of using generic/similar model emulator drivers. Now that many manufacturers basically produce drivers from a building block approach (and so nothing is terribly bespoke any more) I a curious to know if Linux has managed to get better support.

PS a good non-committal starting point is using VMWare or Virtual box - at least they have a very common 'hardware' base that shouldn't be difficult to set up.

1037

Living Room / Re: Amazon pulls thousands of e-books... and the SFWA strikes back

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 28, 2012, 08:21 PM »

What is not clear is if Amazon dropped IPG does that mean all the customers who have bought IPG product have had it removed from their Kindle accounts? Amazon did this before.

1038

General Software Discussion / Re: Need Disk Imaging tool that can restore from external HDD

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 08:11 PM »

If you are using Windows 7 what about Backup & Restore built into windows. Does full system imaging to external hard disks and DVDs. It automatically includes system partitions but you can add in extra partitions too.

1039

Living Room / Re: Firefox and LastPass problems

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 07:16 PM »

Thanks - I will give URLpack a try.

Update: Tried it and it works nicely.

Just on thing - I don't like the gather function. I keep some URLS on my desktop and I don't want them deleted from the desktop or added to a pack. Simplest way to do what you want it to create a shortcut on the desktop to URLpack (you could use desktop.ini and an icon to make it a distinctive shortcut) and just drop browser icons directly onto that shortcut. That way you don't create extra desktop icons and you don't delete irrelevant ones.

1040

DC Gamer Club / Re: Be Mine Indie Game Bundle

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 06:48 PM »

Just paid for the bundle - the albums are there for everyone (sorry to diss your achievement!)

1041

Living Room / Re: Firefox and LastPass problems

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 05:02 PM »

Interesting - actually one of the workarounds that works (at least mostly) is to a have a single Homepage tab (preferably blank) and use a bookmark button to launch the home pages.

I don't really want to swap from LastPass - I like it a lot and it works for apps as well as webpages - which is really handy.

1042

General Software Discussion / Re: any Numpad mouse / Mousekeys for Vista?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 04:58 PM »

YEs it looks useful - handy on desktops too if you are messing with USB drivers and there is a danger the mouse will be killed.

1043

General Software Discussion / Re: any Numpad mouse / Mousekeys for Vista?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 03:36 PM »

Neatmouse has a config pane so you can assign any keys to the mouse function.

1044

General Software Discussion / Re: any Numpad mouse / Mousekeys for Vista?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 01:24 PM »

Strange it works fine here (at least what it says it should do).

Should be possible to write an Autohotkey script to do this - why not post it as a coding snack request?

How about this one: http://neatdecisions.../products/neatmouse/

Can be installed or use portable install to make a portable folder on a USB stick.

1045

General Software Discussion / Re: any Numpad mouse / Mousekeys for Vista?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 11:35 AM »

Not tried it but how about:

http://rhdesigns.bro...g/mouseemulator.html

Edit: Update - seems to work fine on Windows 7 64-bit (albeit a bit slow in use). Personally I would like a better numpad layout - as it stands it is:

7=wheel up	8=up	9=wheel down
4=left	5=down	6=right
1=left button	2=right button	3=middle button

1046

General Software Discussion / Re: Help me choose an online backup service

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 11:16 AM »

Am also abandoning Acronis True Image Pro

-barney (February 26, 2012, 11:23 PM)

I gave up on Acronis some time ago now - after having embarrassingly recommended it to various clients (I am still picking up the pieces of that debacle). TrueImage 9 WS was rock solid B&R10 was a bunch of crap from day one - too many components and too may bugs - none of which ever seemed to get fixed even when reported. The biggest annoyance was that you had to create profiles to do anything and 99% of the time you would use the profile for a couple of months only to find it then stops working so all you incremental and differential backups ceased without any proper notification. The error handing system in Acronis is abysmal - even worse than MS bugchecks and BSODS if that is possible (and probably worse documented - if that is possible too).

Now I just use a bunch of external hard disks and Windows 7built in backup to make periodic images and use Windows Backup to produce regular file level backups on a separate internal drive.

I have divided my data up so that all the stuff that needs regular attention is on one drive and the other drives can easily be regenerated (eg. Steam apps that can redownload if required).


{re. imaging comments}

Probably the best success for imaging is using a tool that does it offline rather than while Windows is running -at least then you aren't relying on any software to maintain consistency.

1047

Living Room / Re: Firefox and LastPass problems

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 27, 2012, 09:48 AM »

Thanks for the feedback - still seems intermittent here - usually accompanied by the error "Cannot connect to the login server" but then it does and all the pages load normally.

Strange that it is only FF that seems to be affected but it is on all the computers I have connected - and I have seen it on other people's computers once or twice too.Odd.

Just had a reply from LP support and they suggest LP > Tools > Clear Local Cache

Can't see it has made any difference.

1048

Living Room / Re: Firefox and LastPass problems

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 26, 2012, 06:08 PM »

Back to normal slow behaviour with FF - only extension enabled is LastPass!

1049

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone on DC do Actinic (UK)?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 26, 2012, 03:52 PM »

I tried to get to grips with Actinic for a client and absolutely hated it. In the end it was quicker to start from scratch - and cheaper!

1050

Living Room / Re: Firefox and LastPass problems

« Last post by Carol Haynes on February 26, 2012, 04:49 AM »

Oddly this morning it doesn't seem to be having a problem - first time in months.

I have tried disabling all addons ecept for LastPass but it doesn't seem to make any difference and anyway the computers I have use difffernent addons - the only ones in common are AdBlock Plus and LastPass - but even removing AdBlock Plus doesn't seem to fix things when the problem occurs.