Recent Posts

10676

General Software Discussion / Re: Photo panorama creation

« Last post by tomos on August 16, 2007, 04:00 AM »

I tried Hugin and i was very surprised.
It's pretty good, i had never tried this kind of software and thought this kind of stuff was hard to do, but i was able to come up with something pretty decent!

Here's a panorama photo of the landscape out of the window of the hotel where i'm staying right now:

-jgpaiva (August 11, 2007, 01:17 PM)

looks good jgpaiva, the join looks good
unfortunately it has a darker patch of sky nearer the join.
I think there was another tool that could correct that a bit more but cant remember offhand.
It's one of the major problems with joining photos...

10677

General Software Discussion / Re: Shortcut hotkeys

« Last post by tomos on August 16, 2007, 03:22 AM »

re the screensaver shortcut:
with the nircmd/FARR alias,
you could always make a shortcut to the screensaver [nircmd] command/alias on the desktop
& give that a [keyboard] shortcut via its properties box

10678

General Software Discussion / Re: Latest MS updates borks WinXP?

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 05:06 PM »

no, luckily having no problems here after update + one reboot earleir today

10679

General Software Discussion / Re: Shortcut hotkeys

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 04:51 PM »

I don't get the screensaver option when I type it in my version of FARR (2.00.138). I'm guessing a shortcut under the scripts folder of FARR installation is missing.

-cemole (August 15, 2007, 04:13 PM)

I didn't add anything extra, I do use dcupdater to update plugins as well -
just checked - it's from the nircmd alias plugin - maybe I did add that manually 

-tomos (August 15, 2007, 04:50 PM)

apologies it's not a plugin it's an alias 

EDIT: here's a link to the addons page for FARR, it's second on the list
https://www.donation...user/findrun/addons/

not sure if it comes by default with the programme

10680

General Software Discussion / Re: Shortcut hotkeys

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 04:50 PM »

I don't get the screensaver option when I type it in my version of FARR (2.00.138). I'm guessing a shortcut under the scripts folder of FARR installation is missing.

-cemole (August 15, 2007, 04:13 PM)

I didn't add anything extra, I do use dcupdater to update plugins as well -
just checked - it's from the nircmd alias plugin - maybe I did add that manually 

10681

Living Room / Re: suffering online status anxiety

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 04:47 PM »

amongst these merging faceless blogs i feel left out. i know deep down that someone created the blogs, they must be important - crucially, they must be more important than me. i need to write a blog just like them - it's unavoidable, i have broadband - i won't exist until my online inane ranting is recognised by at least 3 complete and utter strangers.

-nudone (August 15, 2007, 01:23 PM)

don't do it - not for those reasons anyways, but you dont need me to tell you that..

on the other hand nudone, I suspect a blog of yours would make for very good reading.
so maybe do do it 

10682

General Software Discussion / Re: Q: Preferences backup for installed applications?

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 03:49 PM »

apparently the new (3.10) Backup4all has

Starting with version 3.10 it is possible to load plugins to backup/restore the settings of specific programs. A plugin is actually an XML file that once imported in Backup4all adds a predefined backup. For instance, a backup plugin for Mozilla FireFox, when loaded, will automatically add in the Predefined Backup list an entry for Firefox, so when defining a new backup job if that is selected the FireFox profiles will be added as source for the new backup. Backup plugins recently added: - Mozilla FireFox - WinRAR - WinZIP - LimeWire - Opera - Yahoo Messenger - Trillian - Spybot Search & Destroy - NOD32 - FileZilla Server - ICQ - MSN Messenger - Mozilla Thunderbird - eMule - Alcohol 120% - Adobe Photoshop CS2 - BearFlix - Windows Scheduled Tasks - Windows Media Player - Windows Explorer Toolbar To download these plugins visit the Plugins section of our Knowledgebase at: http://www.backup4all.com/kb/15 Each article contains information on how to download and install the plugins. We will add soon information on how to create a plugin. For questions and suggestions email us at: [email protected] The Backup4all Team http://www.backup4all.com

havent tried it meself

10683

Living Room / Re: New Translation of Teh Bible found!

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 11:57 AM »

good one 

10684

General Software Discussion / Re: Shortcut hotkeys

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 11:50 AM »

Thanks Curt, never got to figure FF's shortcuts so...

I seem to remember that there was a hot key to force Screen Saver NOW (e.g. to blank your screen in a hurry) similar to the "preview" button on the Display Properties page. I still haven't found it - does anyone know??   

-BigJim (August 15, 2007, 10:24 AM)

isn't there something like that on offer in FARR alpha - Yes there is. [I dont know if it's in current FARR version]
(I seem to be saying that a lot lately - but it's true! -
almost anything you could possibly want is available in FARR these days  )

You may know all this, but,
in case you're not familiar with it Jim:
https://www.donation...r/findrun/index.html
But for the ALPHA,
go to members only area in forum,
then Preview software & theres a thread with a link to FARR_ALPHA download.
Install/unzip. Press break key. Start to type screensaver - the option comes up by the time I've sc.. typed.

Then again, that may not be quick enough for you 

10685

Living Room / site for searching for geographical features?

« Last post by tomos on August 15, 2007, 05:27 AM »

Anyone know a good site for searching for geographical features?

For example
I'm looking for Sheen River (County Kerry, Ireland) -
I want to see it from source to end/whatever you call it! (mouth?)

GoogleMap isnt any help;
if I google it I get Sheen Falls Hotel etc etc etc etc etc ...

10686

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by tomos on August 14, 2007, 06:04 PM »

CroosLoop drives my AV scatty I'm afraid...
every startup...
maybe it's just cause I being the cheapskate & using AOL/Kapersky antivirus which doesnt allow for ignoring files..

10687

General Software Discussion / Re: DVD/CD Menu Creation - what's the best utility for this?

« Last post by tomos on August 14, 2007, 02:19 AM »

Mike,
from my Surfulater "archives" 
I haven't tried either of these, they may be too basic for your requirements

Autorun.inf Maker (freeware)
& hamradio's
Compact Autorunner

10688

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by tomos on August 14, 2007, 02:10 AM »

Edit 2: It has been added into the program, along with a little info if you forget what it is asking

Brandon,
1) is that "it" = the option I requested?
2) do we still download from post 129 above?

10689

General Software Discussion / Re: firefox vs. opera: FF is slow when hitting 'back', opera just uses cache

« Last post by tomos on August 13, 2007, 05:02 PM »

I've been using firefox for a while, about a month now and found that the 'minimize to tray' addon and the 'minimize to tray enhancer' addon are speeding up my browsing a lot. In the options of these addons are tweaks that can help. And it doesn't use a lot of resources either. Take it from me who is still on a pentium 3 machine. These addons keeps firefox loaded but idle.

The main one was that I was hitting X instead of the minimize arrow, until I found the tweak to have the X (close) button minimize firefox to the tray

-cmpm (August 13, 2007, 04:02 PM)

sounds great, very helpful for my old maching too - will try

Firefox's recent history cache is still both slower and much more memory hungry than Opera's. I've tested this by opening Google Image Searches for Picasso, Magritte and Dali (20 images per page). Then navigation through ten pages (thus 200 images per tab and 600 images total). Firefox fails after 5 (default settings) back navigations in total. Opera can render *all* of the 30 pages and 600 images immediately using some 40% less RAM!

-nontroppo (August 13, 2007, 04:37 PM)

don't be making me envious     
(I have other reasons why I using FF...I'd prefer not to, honestly )

I was actually taking the thread a little off topic
(but thought it was related enough not to have to  start a new one)
by asking about how the browsers startup while re-opening tabs from previous session
& wondering if there was a way to make FF start without reloading all webpages as opposed to simply saving them which i believe Opera does (I've gotten this bad tab-habit...)

10690

General Software Discussion / Re: firefox vs. opera: FF is slow when hitting 'back', opera just uses cache

« Last post by tomos on August 13, 2007, 02:42 PM »

I believe when Opera starts with tabs from previous session, it loads these from the cache.
FF on the other hand opens the pages anew.. which can lead to a very long wait!
dont know if my understanding is correct??

If so, is there a way to change this behaviour in FF - I have Session Saver extension installed & checked it's options but couldnt find anything, in fact if you go to where they're saved its just links.

will go have a look at this fasterfox..

10691

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 04:17 PM »

Hi Tom -

I have one physical drive that I had partitioned in three about two and a half years ago. Initially I had a big partition for My Documents and user settings (like Outlook and IE), a small (@2GB) partition for my Paging File, and a medium sized partition for Windows and Programs.

I've since gotten rid of the small paging file partition altogether and have placed my paging file on the windows/programs partition. It's set to 1.5 times my RAM (so 1536MB) and is fixed in size. I don't have a paging file at all on the My Documents partition. The setup works well and is more stable than the previous one.

-Darwin (August 12, 2007, 01:00 PM)

Thanks Mike!
no, I was thinking of trying it on new computer with two drives.. I'll see,
it almost sounds like if you have enough memory it's not that important so I might be as well to follow your (current) example seeing as it's working well for you

10692

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 12:44 PM »

following cmpm's google link above
I got a few recommendations -
One was if you have say 2GB memory & two drives, to have a paging file of that size on each drive.

Then from: http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

Should the file be left on Drive C:? The slowest aspect of getting at a file on a hard disk is in head movement (‘seeking’). If you have only one physical drive then the file is best left where the heads are most likely to be, so where most activity is going on — on drive C:. If you have a second physical drive, it is in principle better to put the file there, because it is then less likely that the heads will have moved away from it. If, though, you have a modern large size of RAM, actual traffic on the file is likely to be low, even if programs are rolled out to it, inactive, so the point becomes an academic one. If you do put the file elsewhere, you should leave a small amount on C: — an initial size of 2MB with a Maximum of 50 is suitable — so it can be used in emergency. Without this, the system is inclined to ignore the settings and either have no page file at all (and complain) or make a very large one indeed on C: In relocating the page file, it must be on a ‘basic’ drive. Windows XP appears not to be willing to accept page files on ‘dynamic’ drives. NOTE: If you are debugging crashes and wish the error reporting to make a kernel or full dump, then you will need an initial size set on C: of either 200 MB (for a kernel dump) or the size of RAM (for a full memory dump). If you are not doing so, it is best to make the setting to no more than a ‘Small Dump’, at Control Panel | System | Advanced, click Settings in the ‘Startup and Recovery’ section, and select in the ‘Write Debug information to’ panel

and for Skywalka

Can the Virtual Memory be turned off on a really large machine? Strictly speaking Virtual Memory is always in operation and cannot be “turned off.” What is meant by such wording is “set the system to use no page file space at all.” Doing this would waste a lot of the RAM. The reason is that when programs ask for an allocation of Virtual memory space, they may ask for a great deal more than they ever actually bring into use — the total may easily run to hundreds of megabytes. These addresses have to be assigned to somewhere by the system. If there is a page file available, the system can assign them to it — if there is not, they have to be assigned to RAM, locking it out from any actual use.

and

How big should the page file be? There is a great deal of myth surrounding this question. Two big fallacies are:     * The file should be a fixed size so that it does not get fragmented, with minimum and maximum set the same     * The file should be 2.5 times the size of RAM (or some other multiple) Windows will expand a file that starts out too small and may shrink it again if it is larger than necessary, so it pays to set the initial size as large enough to handle the normal needs of your system to avoid constant changes of size. This will give all the benefits claimed for a ‘fixed’ page file. But no restriction should be placed on its further growth. As well as providing for contingencies, like unexpectedly opening a very large file, in XP this potential file space can be used as a place to assign those virtual memory pages that programs have asked for, but never brought into use. Until they get used — probably never — the file need not come into being. There is no downside in having potential space available. For any given workload, the total need for virtual addresses will not depend on the size of RAM alone. It will be met by the sum of RAM and the page file. Therefore in a machine with small RAM, the extra amount represented by page file will need to be larger — not smaller — than that needed in a machine with big RAM. Unfortunately the default settings for system management of the file have not caught up with this: it will assign an initial amount that may be quite excessive for a large machine, while at the same leaving too little for contingencies on a small one. How big a file will turn out to be needed depends very much on your work-load. Simple word processing and e-mail may need very little — large graphics and movie making may need a great deal. For a general workload, with only small dumps provided for (see note to ‘Should the file be left on Drive C:?’ above), it is suggested that a sensible start point for the initial size would be the greater of (a) 100 MB or (b) enough to bring RAM plus file to about 500 MB. EXAMPLE: Set the Initial page file size to 400 MB on a computer with 128 MB RAM; 250 on a 256 MB computer; or 100 MB for larger sizes. But have a high Maximum size — 700 or 800 MB or even more if there is plenty of disk space. Having this high will do no harm. Then if you find the actual pagefile.sys gets larger (as seen in Explorer), adjust the initial size up accordingly. Such a need for more than a minimal initial page file is the best indicator of benefit from adding RAM: if an initial size set, for a trial, at 50MB never grows, then more RAM will do nothing for the machine's performance.

maybe I'm quoting too much ... worth going there for a read at any rate..

10693

General Software Discussion / Re: how to reduce pagefile usage?

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 12:18 PM »

- in the past, I've tried setting a harddrive partition aside and putting the PF there, but PF usage and disk activity were elevated.

-Darwin (August 12, 2007, 10:46 AM)

was that partition on the same drive? (I'm wondering whether to try putting paging file on a different drive)

Well... as I understand it, there are some apps, such as Adobe Photoshop, that insist of swapping data to file, so if you're running anything that requires it, not running a PagingFile will be a liability.

re photoshop,
I think it uses it's own "paging file" -
from the Photoshop 5.5 help:-

When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Adobe Photoshop uses a proprietary virtual memory technology, also called the scratch disks. Virtual memory is disk space used for storing data during a work session when the amount of RAM is insufficient. (This scratch disk space is not a Windows swap file [swap file = paging file?] or Mac OS virtual memory, but is used only when working in Photoshop.) ... The amount of free space on the scratch disk must be greater than or equal to the amount of RAM you have allocated to Photoshop. To ensure good performance, Photoshop writes the entire RAM contents to the scratch disks during idle times. If the scratch disks run out of free space, Photoshop quits taking additional RAM—regardless of what you have allocated to the program. This means that if you’ve allocated 60 MB to Photoshop [1999 standards ] but you have only 10 MB of free space on your scratch disk, Photoshop will use only 10 MB of RAM.

which you can allocate yourself -
I'm given an option of allocating 4 different scratch disks, not sure why four...
as far as I know if you dont allocate it, it's taken automatically from C drive (mind you mine says "startup"  )

10694

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 07:37 AM »

When AutoInstalling, AutoCleaning, AutoOptimizing, or EasyMaintaining, you will NOT BE ABLE TO CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER.
...
The BAD part about this is that if something DOES go wrong ( ) you will have to
a) let it go
b) shut off the system power
c) run around in a circle and hope for the best

-wreckedcarzz (August 11, 2007, 05:52 PM)

I think that'll scare a lot of people (me for one)
how about it as an option - would that be possible? - for those of us without interfering mother-in-laws etc. 

10695

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Replicating ClipStep in CHS

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 07:27 AM »

I'd like to see CHS replicate ClipStep's copy & paste interface.

-skywalka (August 12, 2007, 02:26 AM)

is there something in FARR now that replicates that  ??

10696

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you know a good image viewer with CMYK support ?

« Last post by tomos on August 12, 2007, 07:25 AM »

IE7 save target as function saves it as cmyk_test.jpg while Opera saves it as .png

-PhilB66 (August 12, 2007, 06:43 AM)

odd,
in FF I rightclicked to save image & got a png - but of course that was the thumb!
so
I clicked on thumb to enlarge & it simply dissapeared without even leaving the "little red cross" as in Curt's case...
the plot thickens ...

dopus viewer displays my own test CMYK (photo) jpeg perfectly
just tried a quick test with graphics (flat colours) in dopus, also no problem

gave in & opened IE - the test image looks fine in Dopus for me too...

10697

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you know a good image viewer with CMYK support ?

« Last post by tomos on August 11, 2007, 01:11 PM »

no good news i'm afraid
-
i just converted a jpeg photo to CMYK in photoshop
& opened both in ExifPro - which isnt free but is only $20 or so

unfortunately the CMYK, well it looks crap - faces looking like serious wine drinkers on a session,
colours gaudy & oversaturated, ah well...

10698

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by tomos on August 10, 2007, 04:16 AM »

Would it be of interest to make a pre-complied, ready to go zip for USB drives (somewhat like the PortableApps.com setup)? I was thinking about doing it (just got a Geek Squad 4GB drive) but don't want to make something no one will use. Thoughts?  / ?

-wreckedcarzz (August 09, 2007, 08:57 PM)

yes yes, 
even i who knows so little about computing things get called upon by my family
so try sort out their messied-up PCs...

10699

Living Room / Re: KenR's health and situation

« Last post by tomos on August 09, 2007, 06:39 PM »

Ken,
I wish you the best of luck with everything & all the help you might need along the way,
tom

10700

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by tomos on August 09, 2007, 10:46 AM »

Anyway, hope the system is going to suit your needs - apparently you won't be assembling it yourself, otherwise I'd have ordered you to take pictures of the process.

-f0dder (August 09, 2007, 08:44 AM)

You'll probably get a picture anyways    "the proud owner wit his nice new black puter"

EDIT: I almost forgot. Don't forget about loading that thing with fans (I remember you said you were going to do it, but just as a reminder ). Passive cards can get VERY hot, although Asus had some really good passive models, that got lower temps than actively cooled ones.

-Lashiec (August 09, 2007, 08:50 AM)

ehh, I might be posting again at that stage...
the box (case? what's the english name?!) Coolermaster Centurion 5 Midi-Tower (CAC-T05) their website is flash - taking ages to load. Now it cant find it's own products 
Anyways it has    "1*80x80x20 Lüfter hinten (fan in back) 1*120x120x25 Lüfter vorne (fan in front)
Customer reviews at a site here say its good & cool (both ways!) & even "relatively quiet" -
is there ways of testing/keeping track of temperature of things in computer? (I downloaded speedfan lately but havent used it - will look at their site..)

looks like a good computer, congratulations 

-mouser (August 09, 2007, 08:50 AM)

cheers!