Recent Posts

10626

Living Room / Re: New Nick for Darwin

« Last post by tomos on September 04, 2007, 04:41 AM »

as the 61st reader I enjoying it -

LOL. Well, even if no one else does, you and I will enjoy this thread! 

-KenR (September 03, 2007, 06:45 PM)

just not sure where it's coming from 
is it his help exposing -
$7.5 to optimize XP NTFS Drive access : rip-off or not ? ?
or
his general knowledge/expertise re software & Acceptable expletives - no, that wouldnt make him a revenger?!

10627

General Software Discussion / Re: Good programs for helping you manage what programs start with windows?

« Last post by tomos on September 03, 2007, 02:40 PM »

Wow, I copied the shortcut for the StartupCop forum, posted it here, and then read the forum. Quite a read...! I'm having no trouble at all with it here (FWIW) but I'd read the forum for potential pitfalls.

-Darwin (September 02, 2007, 07:07 AM)

hmm, doesnt sound too encouraging....

10628

General Software Discussion / Re: Good programs for helping you manage what programs start with windows?

« Last post by tomos on September 01, 2007, 05:33 PM »

PCMag has just released Startup Cop 3 with a bunch of new features including both delayed startup and the ability to set startup order (as in, don't start app x until app y has successfully launched). It's $7.95 (unless you have a subscription to their downloads) and I've just installed it but haven't had an opportunity to wring it out and put it through its paces (ah, the mixed metaphor - an artform!). Anyway, here's a list of features from the website (because I am too lazy to type it out myself):

-Darwin (August 31, 2007, 07:24 PM)

sounds very interesting, they seem to have a lot of nice little programmes.
(nudone has recommended a couple over the last couple years)
I think if you pay $19(.99 I guess ) you can down them all -
dont know if they are easily accessible though.

Yeah, Mike, do let us know how you get on with that!

10629

General Software Discussion / Re: Settings backup software?

« Last post by tomos on September 01, 2007, 05:24 PM »

the new backup4all plugin system would cover some apps.
posted about it here apparently you can write plugins, well I probably couldnt

10630

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: Getting Organized in 2007

« Last post by tomos on September 01, 2007, 05:08 PM »

First, I'm in 
will have to think about things a bit first which in itself is a helpful thing...

Ok, not to be the 'complaining' smurf here, but...
Wasn't last year edition aborted half-way through?
I thought most people who participated never even bothered asking for new tasks, because they were too busy doing other things...
I took it like it is: sticking to one time management system is incredibly difficult. You have to have iron willpower.

Even though DC got to interview the two superpowers back then (Allen and Forster) and we reviewed plenty of time-management systems and applications, I'm not sure we got much out of it. I, for one, have abandoned the system I was using in 2006.

Thoughts?

-urlwolf (September 01, 2007, 07:13 AM)

I dont know,
I definitely got a lot out of it, but at the same time I know I need to change/evolve self/habits/whatever a lot more in order to be "successful"
Which is why I in again 

EDIT:
PS urlwolf, have you a new system in place?

10631

General Software Discussion / Re: Data recovery software suggestions?

« Last post by tomos on August 31, 2007, 04:07 AM »

my usb stick went all funny on me lately

wanted to be formatted.
The only thing I had to hand was SanDisk Rescue Pro.
Well it offered to make an image file (*.img) and to recover from that.
Didnt take too long but the recovering did - I had things to do so stopped it.
Also I needed my usb stick so I formatted it -
I'm not that worried it's mostly backups on the stick but wouldnt mind getting the stuff back in case theres something I've overlooked in there...

So I'm wondering does anyone know of another option to
recover files from an image file. *.img

If not I could always run the SanDisk software overnight &
hope it doesnt need to be prompted at any stage

10632

Living Room / Re: How do you organise your 'My Documents' folder

« Last post by tomos on August 29, 2007, 03:23 AM »

I'm opting for 3. Unfortunately it clashes with Microsoft's idea, as My Pictures and My Music is not sorted by project or theme.

-justice (August 20, 2007, 08:41 AM)

Exactly my thinking, which is why I don't use the My Documents folder!  I (as do some others, based on the replies I'm seeing here) generally let software put whatever it wants to in there, and I've created a different "Documents" folder where I can safely organise my own hierarchy based on purpose/project without fear of installation routines and other automated stuff messing it up.  I've mapped that folder to a drive letter, so I don't have to dig through folders to find my docs.  I find the usage of all the "My ..." folders really annoying!

-stylecrime (August 28, 2007, 08:15 PM)

are you able to get rid of "My Docs" from the Explorer tree then as well?
oh yeah,
how does one give a folder a drive letter ?!?
Can you do that using windows "Disk Management"?

10633

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone Using OmniPage and PaperPort?

« Last post by tomos on August 29, 2007, 03:11 AM »

I believe
PDF Converter converts PDFs to text
PDF Converter Pro does that & creates PDFs as well (& possibly more..)

just to clarify, there seemed to be some confusion above between the two 

10634

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 28, 2007, 01:52 AM »

I use a combination of RyanVM and DriverPacks (http://driverpacks.net/) to keep an up to date XP SP2 install DVD with drivers. No more digging for drivers all the time, woohoo!

-dmholmes (August 27, 2007, 07:18 PM)

do you use nlite or the RyanVM slipstreamer, (cant think of the name)

I havent had any success slipstreaming any updates with nlite so far -
I should really just give up on it but I find it hard to resist all those options nlite has...

10635

Living Room / Re: A joyful addition..

« Last post by tomos on August 25, 2007, 07:34 AM »

Congrats Lanux!
 I'm very happy for you 

10636

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 24, 2007, 02:30 AM »

Autopatcher I've never used for updates - I've used it to slipstream XP or XP SP1 with XP SP2.

nlite is good - it allows you to to create an (unattended, if you wish) Windows installation CD that leaves out any parts of Windows that you don't want installed, and it will include any updates and hotfixes that have been installed on your system to date.
There's an excellent tutorial here:
http://teamtutorials...dows-install-w-nlite
with links to update packs with .NET framework included and a link to a site with info on what not to take out. 

nlite doesn't download all in the updates in one go round though.

You can get all the downloads from the Microsoft Catalog Update:
http://v4.windowsupd...icrosoft.com/catalog
...

-laughinglizard (August 23, 2007, 02:06 PM)

ahh, was a bit confused there for a bit -
I think you mean you used Autostreamer for slipstreaming XP & SP2?

I've been trying to use Autopatcher updates with nlite & well it doesnt work
Reading their forums it used to work at some stage but they dont seem to be compatible any more
ah well, will try RyanVMs

PS: I used nlite for one install already but made the big mistake of choosing to always login "my account" which I accidentally left as "user"
for some reason couldnt login as admin... loadsafun

EDIT: -
PS. thanks for those links & tips laughinglizard -
some good tips in that nlite tutorial!

10637

General Software Discussion / Re: imaging & partitioning queries

« Last post by tomos on August 24, 2007, 01:53 AM »

I used that [sorry! EDIT: Parted Magic] for the partitioning
with the help of this tutorial
it was very easy

-tomos (August 23, 2007, 08:27 AM)

Thanks for the feedback tomos! It's good to know.
Good luck with the other part of the process... It shouldn't be that hard, really. It should be as easy.

-Armando (August 23, 2007, 04:20 PM)

I'll frame that & put it on the wall... hah microsoft, grumble grumble
(plan to make a post about it but prob in new thread..)
Actually I did manage to install XP ok eventually - so I happy enough 

10638

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 23, 2007, 09:48 AM »

how about that WindizUpdate firefox plugin/update?
http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/

havent used it myself but it featured in a thread here lately without any negativity

10639

General Software Discussion / Re: imaging & partitioning queries

« Last post by tomos on August 23, 2007, 08:27 AM »

you could also try one of the free Open Source partitioning and imaging Solutions like gparted http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ (only for partitioning) or parted magic http://partedmagic.com/ (does imaging too) -- you'll need to dowload (about 50mb, I think) and burn them on a CD. Gparted is easy to use and reliable. I must admit that I have never used the Open source imaging solutions though (only on parted magic), only the partitioning one.

-Armando (August 16, 2007, 08:57 PM)

I used that [sorry! EDIT: Parted Magic] for the partitioning
with the help of this tutorial
it was very easy

[unfortunately I cant say the same for the windows install, but thats another story that will hopefully be sorted out when nlite has finished preparing the xp + sp2 bootdisk]

EDIT: corrected link

10640

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 23, 2007, 07:16 AM »

Lashiec, I have Core2duo & I get the impression at neowin thast they're fussy about what gets included so reckon I'll chance it

anyways, nlite running now as I write

-tomos (August 22, 2007, 10:56 AM)

unfortunately first nlite iso didnt boot - missing some unidentified kernel file...
I had included the XUD updates (post #2)
dont know if that was the problem or nlite itself
will try it again with just the SP2 pack & xp

EDIT: I had used the beta of nlite, maybe that was it...

10641

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 23, 2007, 06:37 AM »

I have used Autopatcher with great success in the past.  It is a huge download, but I've done it without bittorrent.  I always use the Cachefly mirror at http://www.getautopatcher.com/

Once you get the core download, you only need to download the monthly updates which are much smaller.

Carl

-cthorpe (August 22, 2007, 05:27 PM)

that worked a dream, thanks Carl

10642

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by tomos on August 23, 2007, 06:01 AM »

Well, i'm really pulling my hair out with this monitor thing. I've found this one for a good price but the review is one year old so maybe it's obsolete now. If anyone has information about this monitor, please let me know

-ak_ (August 22, 2007, 09:25 AM)

a year old review is okay I reckon - unless you're going to pay loads of dosh you're prob not going to get the absolute current best..
the conclusion of review
http://www.prad.de/e...rt13.html#Conclusion
doessound quite very good to me - apart from the direct sunlight warning -
depends where you'll be using it...

10643

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 10:56 AM »

saga continues

had to download net framework for the laptop I using
(#2 requested, only #3 on offer so hopefully that does the job) to run nlite.
I had a check at windows updates & was offered an update to speed up updates/ensure I dont get any older(N/A) updates and so on spiel -
was shocked when I looked at the details to discover it was that update that checks your xp to ensure it's not pirated - whasitcalled Genuine advantage notification or something similar name

WTF WTF WTF
they're still trying to sneak that one in - and
under such false pretenses.

anyways, nlite running now as I write

10644

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 09:19 AM »

well, autopatcher/neowin seems to be undownloadable
unless you using bittorrent
the Ryan one is downloading @ 10KB/second
thankfully I got the XUD already (200KB/sec, phew)

strange
autopatcher one is around the 300MB mark
RyanVM's one is around the 50MB mark
XUD is around 25MB only 

will let ye know how i get on anyways!

EDIT: all above sizes offered as post SP2
PS. found SP2 disc so even if I only get that much slipstreamed I'll be reasonably happy

10645

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 08:38 AM »

Tom - all you need is Sp-2 (it supersedes Sp-1) but that only helps if you can find the disc you burned it to!

-Darwin (August 22, 2007, 08:34 AM)

thanks Mike, I reckon I can dig it out

Never used this, but heard it mentioned:
http://autopatcher.com/whatsautopatcher/

-justice (August 22, 2007, 08:24 AM)

Autopatcher is the one I was thinking of  
well, sort of !!
it redirects you to Neowin.net when you go to download.

Still happy to take anyones recommendations on any of those sites

10646

Living Room / Re: download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 08:30 AM »

thanks justice,

I got more creative with my searching & found:
XUD Pack (Xables Light Post XP-SP2 Update Pack)
http://udp.xable.net/changelog.html
&
RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack
http://www.ryanvm.ne...msfn/updatepack.html

could anyone comment on any of these (EDIT: inc justices link above)?
(neither of which were the site I had looked at before...)

10647

Living Room / download all updates for XP in one go?

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 08:15 AM »

where to download all updates for XP in one go?

I know there used to be a site out there where you could get prepackaged so-to-speak updates for WinXP -
I want to combine them with XP CD for new install.
Just cant find it anywhere...
Any ideas (I was even there a couple months ago...
couldnt find anything here or googling, all I can think of is "updates")


I believe I bought the XP when it came out first so it doesnt even have SP1
I have SP2 on disc - does that supercede SP1? or do I need that too (naa, cant even find it anymore!)

thanks for any help, tom
EDIT/PS. was going to use nlite

10648

Living Room / Re: a wet tv remote control problem

« Last post by tomos on August 22, 2007, 05:35 AM »

sit it on a heater??? but not too hot I guess.

I had a problem once with someone in the flat above ours forgetting to turn off the tap (& then going out...)
Our video remote was on the floor...
It didnt work (normally) for a long time (months I think) so I just forgot about it.
A year or two later I tried it again & it worked - not 100% but near enough.

Just an anecdote - probably not much help though 

10649

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by tomos on August 21, 2007, 01:06 PM »

Re monitor:
I was asking in a german "flatscreen" forum (PRADA)

-tomos (August 21, 2007, 11:57 AM)

PRAD ProAdviser is an excellent resource - Reviews, Comparisons, Advise...

-PhilB66 (August 21, 2007, 12:06 PM)

hah, didnt know they had an english version
obviously translated from german -
the marks they give are
Very good, good, and "Satisfying"
of course meant to be satisfactory = soso really..

10650

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by tomos on August 21, 2007, 12:03 PM »

ak_

Eizo S1911
was also recommended by one individual, but I've seen some not so positive reviews -
they were saying one half of screen (top or lower?) lighter than other..
I believe - from memory now -
the Eizo S1910 is almost the same monitor but slower (for games)
I think again around the 300€ mark..