Recent Posts

1176

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 16, 2007, 04:33 PM »

Well I still havn't fixed the darn loading bar...got not idea whats wrong with it. Maybe some time to debug in a "new" program will fix it.

Anyways...

I haven't stopped working, despite the lower amount of forum posts. I just updated the sequence for SnapSuite's handling of the FileHippo.com Update Checker, and I am going to look into doing a few (little) extra things like that, just to make it that (little) much nicer.

Still (and always) taking feedback!

-Brandon

EDIT: I just got done doing a little touch-up work. I took every MsgBox (Message Box) and made it a little more detailed and easier to understand, and then I took the ENTIRE script and SPELL CHECKED it. That was madness. But now I fixed a whopping 2 spelling errors, and have a new dictionary database for checking my AHK scripts. Worth it though.

EDIT 2: I also removed the F5 and F11 hotkeys from AutoType. These are commonly used keys for other programs, most notably web browsers (F5 refreshes, F11 toggles full-screen). You can notice the large difference in buttons from the GUI (each took ~30 pixels).

1177

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / AHK coders- help? Please???

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 15, 2007, 12:17 AM »

OK, looking for anyone fluent in AHK to tell me what the heck I am doing wrong here. Spent like...4 days (I think) on this darn thing and it JUST WONT WORK!!!

The idea is a working loading sequence, that I have accomplished. Everything is great, except...

the loading bar doesn't appear!

(I added comments after the ";" in the code lines explaining what the stuff does, so even if you don't know the AHK language you *might* be able to help)

[Select]

;Loading GUI
 Gui,97: Add, Text, , CompuTech SnapSuite is loading...     ;Adds text "CompuTech SnapSuite is loading" to the window
 Gui,97: Add, Progress, vSnapSuiteLoadingProgress w300 h32     ;Adds (supposedly) the loadingbar, under the variable SnapSuiteLoadingProgress. The bar is 300 pixels wide by 32 tall.
 Gui,97: Show, Center, CompuTech SnapSuite is loading...     ;Shows the window, with the title "CompuTech SnapSuite is loading..." in the center of the screen.
 GuiControl,, SnapSuiteLoadingProgress, +50     ;Makes the progress bar add 50%
 Sleep 5000     ;Sleeps 5 seconds
 ExitApp     ;Exits the testing bar program...whatever you want to call it

(please note: the ExitApp & Sleep 5000 were for testing purposes, so I wouldn't have to wait for it to load the window up EVERY time I tested it (about 50 times so far ))

Can someone test that and show me it working (or not)? I cannot get it to work, and it is starting to really get me wanting to go scream into a pillow or something (don't ask me why...I don't even know ) EDIT: I guess thats what a week of little to no sleep gets you

Ideas? Errors? Anything???

-Brandon

1178

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Uninstaller

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 10, 2007, 02:14 PM »

OK- this should make everyone (especially Curt ) a little happier. An uninstaller!

This is setup to be downloaded separately when you need it to be used, then just deleted once your done with it. Quick, painless, and explains any problems it encounters to the user. A logical uninstaller.

Test it out and let me know what you think.

-Brandon

1179

Living Room / Re: Today is my birthday- when is yours?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 07:46 PM »

Thanks for the popcorn tomos

1180

Living Room / Re: Today is my birthday- when is yours?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 04:21 PM »

Thanks Armando

1181

Living Room / Re: Today is my birthday- when is yours?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 03:59 PM »

Well, my birthday is technically in February, but I still voted for Febuary

-TucknDar (November 09, 2007, 12:34 PM)

Fixed; thanks

1182

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / A little update

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 12:14 PM »

Well, I have been home sick the last few days, and just got out of the hospital yesterday (PM me if you want to know why, it's off-topic IMO). I gave the website a quick update, it doesn't LOOK very good, but it gives me an idea to work with. I have still been working on the program, slowly, but still working on it. I am changing the GUI a bit, but I don't have it complete so it doesn't make sense to post a picture yet.

Expect an update in about a week- I am taking it easy and whatnot. Today is also my birthday, so I don't plan to work on it today (I made a poll for birthday-months here https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=10758.0 if you want to vote for your month ).

Be sure to look at the...updated website http://www.incredisims.com/ and tell me what you think. (I plan on getting better looking tabs soon, those were just a MSPaint job).

-Brandon

1183

Living Room / Re: Today is my birthday- when is yours?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 12:03 PM »

Congrats! Now it's time to update your biography

-Lashiec (November 09, 2007, 12:01 PM)

Forgot about that- thanks!

1184

Living Room / Today is my birthday- when is yours?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 09, 2007, 11:58 AM »

Well, today is my birthday. I got out of the hospital yesterday and am having a good time enjoying my stay away from School (that dreaded place! ) and figured I would post that today is my day- then I started wondering, what is the most common birthday month. So...

Vote your month!



-Brandon

1185

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 06, 2007, 04:08 PM »

Another problem...

This one I can't control though. Appears JkDefrag STILL doesn't work on XP. Not sure though.

If you can't get it working, go here http://www.kessels.c...ag/JkDefrag-3.28.zip and copy JkDefrag.exe to the SnapSuite folder. That should fix it. Not sure why, but it seems to do the trick.

EDIT: I re-uploaded JkDefrag to the mazecraze site (where the downloader gets its files) so anyone after this post should have the working one. Wonder why it didn't take it the first time.

1186

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 06, 2007, 03:40 PM »

Curt:

As for the directory thing: It has to be in that folder (Program Files) due to design (you can only change the drive letter). If you really need it in another folder, I can cook up a custom one for you in a few minutes.

As for the error: Yes, that was the bug I fixed before the MD5 checksum went nuts.

About no uninstaller: No, there isn't one. I am planning to make one soon.

I am REALLY sorry about that , the whole thing went to heck in a handcart really fast. Just delete the whole thing and get a new copy from above.

EDIT: I can't really apologize enough, but in case anyone else downloaded the bad version as well, I am sorry. The version above is good.

1187

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 06, 2007, 03:36 PM »

That was the most confusing, pointless, idiotic 30 minutes of debugging I have ever used. The whole problem was that the downloader freaked out because I forgot to update the MD5 checksum. Then it failed to download correctly. Then it didn't work at all. (etc etc etc) Good grief...

Well, I fixed one more thing, updated the checksum, and cleaned up my workspace so that I won't go insane next time I try working on SnapSuite.

New users...
Download (Run or Save). Run the exe. SnapSuite will start automatically.

Existing users...
Delete the SnapSuite folder in Program Files ("CompuTech SnapSuite"). It will just make more sense to do that, then to try and sort through all the mess of the downloader. Run/Save the new downloader, let it do its thing, and SnapSuite will start automatically.

To everybody...
Sorry about that mess (*points up*) . It was good, then one thing happened, then I had a snowball of events on my hands. This one DOES work, so (hopefully) enjoy.

1188

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Update, again :\

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 06, 2007, 02:27 PM »

Another update (for SnapSuite)...

This one I wasn't planning on putting as its own update, but I was forced to due JkDefrag. I completely ignored putting JkDefrag into the downloader's list of files. It was in my folder (I create a folder to see what "users" see, and make sure everything is there) but wasn't in the list. . This new downloader includes the latest version, JkDefrag 3.28. It also features a small splash screen and the new icon (BIG thanks to HamRadio for doing that for me ), to make up for my idiotic...ness.

New users:
Download the file below (run or save, your choice). Run it once it is done, and let it go to work. The program will launch automatically when it is done.

Existing users:
Download the file below and overwrite your old file (if you Ran the first file, you can Run it again or Save it). Run it once it is done, and pick Continue using the existing files. Once it is done, you will just have to update SnapSuite via the button below the SystemCare column.

EDIT: If you see a splash screen after the update, you don't need to do the second "Update SnapSuite". If you DON'T see a splash screen, then you DO need to update. It appears that it works without the 2nd part of the update.

EDIT 2: Don't download just yet, I am updating the code to retrieve the latest CCleaner version.

EDIT 3: OK, uploading build 90. I fixed a bunch of bugs that I just happened to come across- that was lucky!

EDIT 4: I am going to take about an hour and fix whatever is going on, something is going nuts somewhere. Just my luck.

EDIT 5: If this post doesn't make me look crazy, I don't know what does. See below for my explanation and new version.

1189

General Software Discussion / Re: Does your Vista installation run out of memory when copying files?

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 05, 2007, 10:52 PM »

I haven't got that error, on any of my 3 Vista machines. One of them wasn't exactly a high-end (or even mid-range) machine when XP was around, and I still haven't seen it. What hardware are you guys running? The low end computer has some wierd AMD CPU clocked at about ~1.8-2GHz (I still don't fully understand AMD's wierd number system for CPUs), having 1GB of value-end RAM and a small 80GB 5,400RPM hard drive. And it runs AERO as well.

1190

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 05, 2007, 05:46 PM »

OK, small little update to fix the no-shortcut problem.

If you have SnapSuite...
open it via your custom-made shortcut, or enter "C:\Program Files\CompuTech SnapSuite\SnapSuite.exe" (where C:\ is your default drive letter) into the Run box on the Start Menu. Then, go below the SystemCare column and click Update SnapSuite.

If you are a new user...
Just use the downloader above. The patch will auto download with the rest of the files.

1191

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 05, 2007, 04:16 PM »

Several folders? The only one needed is "CompuTech SnapSuite". SnapSuite and EasySuite are independent of one another (as SnapSuite is taking over EasySuite). Everything should be contained in that folder (except CCleaner, CleanUp! etc).

Growing is good

EDIT: Expanding on what I said above, basically you can safely remove the EasySuite folder without doing any harm (although running the uninstaller first might help "C:\Program Files\CompuTech EasySuite\unins000.exe")

1192

Living Room / Re: Pet Peeve: I will never buy a rechargeable mouse again for as long as i live

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 04, 2007, 10:35 PM »

I have the solution, mouser-sen! Use rechargeable batteries in a battery powered mouse! Best of both worlds. This is what I do and I've had to recharge the rechargeables (being ahead of the curve, I have an extra set of rechargeables so just swap them and keep on working) twice in two and a half years. Ditto for the keyboard. Crazy.

-Darwin (November 04, 2007, 07:04 AM)

I have been doing the same thing for about 6 months now. But then the rechargables sometimes lose a charge or sometimes I am charging them and the ones in the mouse die (usually during a game or something else "important" ) so then I have to run to get normal AAA's...

I am waiting for wireless power. That will be the day.

EDIT: My current mouse (Micro Innovations Wireless Optical Mouse PD950P- try saying that 3 times backwards) takes 2 AAA's; its that small. And it still dies like once a week!

1193

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Alpha 1 Build 82 Ready!

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 04, 2007, 06:36 PM »

OK, I got some yard work to do, and I gotta go and play some games and what not, but here is the latest version, first public release of SnapSuite. The Updater works (:O) and everything is there except TaskbarTime and the help file. Oh, and it won't make a desktop shortcut for you (yet) so just head over to

[Select]

<Your_Drive_Letter_Here>:\Program Files\CompuTech SnapSuite\ and right click SnapSuite.exe > Send to > Desktop (create shortcut)

to make one.

Please let me know of bugs, misspellings/grammar issues, things that can be improved, anything at all. If one of the groupboxes (little rounded rectangles) is off (even by 1 pixel)...ANYTHING!

Other then no help file and TaskbarTime not there, enjoy! (Expect bi-daily updates for features/bug fixes)

-Brandon

\/ Download Below \/

FYI: To update SnapSuite to a newer version, go below the SystemCare column (3rd one over) to where it says "Updates/Help/Donate" and hit Update SnapSuite.

EDIT: Download on page 10, first post. Sorry about that

1194

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 04, 2007, 01:45 PM »

OK, cool. I just decided how to improve upon the install/update system, and make the installer totally automated (except telling it where to install to). !

Here is how it will work...

I am going to use GetRightToGo (same downloader as Maze Craze) to download all of the program files individually. This allows instant installation, and MUCH faster updates (just update the main exe, instead of all the files).

When you run the downloader (or save to the location of your choice), just tell it the drive letter you want to install SnapSuite to (default is C:\Program Files\CompuTech SnapSuite). You can ONLY change the drive letter! I cannot stress this enough. If you change anything else, it will not work (it was the same before, so its not a change, but just an FYI).

It then downloads the files, one by one, and puts them in the folder (therefore, installing SnapSuite). When it is done it will run SnapSuite, and that will make a shortcut on your desktop for you. To uninstall, just delete the SnapSuite folder and shortcut.

And I thought I would have to make a separate, messy program to do this! Bah!

Feedback?

1195

General Software Discussion / A rant about how I finally ditched iTunes... :D

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 04, 2007, 12:45 PM »

Just an FYI: Mac/iTunes users, please don't take offense. This is a LONG rant about how much iTunes sucks (just my opinion, you see *cough*).

Some background info:

I used to never listen to music. Ever. It was boring. A few years back I got an AM/FM radio w/ a CD player in it, and eventually got bored of it- it didn't integrate with my PC in any way. (Everything I own anymore has to be able to work with my computer in some way or I will use it about 3 times and forget about it). I had Windows Media Player 9, with version 10 coming in the near future, but nothing to play. Apple was not exactly one of my most favorite companies, but they did have something everyone used- iTunes.

iTunes was slow and confusing to me, so I went back to my FM stations. A couple years ago, I gave out and got the new iTunes (it was version 6 I think). A few friends gave me some songs via MSN and I was all excited. Except...iTunes was still the slow, confusing thing it used to be. And the FORCED install of the buggy and insecure QuickTime didn't exactly make me all excited about it, either. But it was the norm, and I was just another follower of a bandwagon of annoying teenage iTunes lovers.

About a year ago, I got extremely angry. iTunes had taken up a chunk of my hard drive, it was slow even on my new laptop, and the store took ages to load. I dropped out once again.

So, 6 months ago, I got it one last time (for my laptop, that is) and all was well. I was finally happy with version 7, and it was starting to be more logical. So, good deal! I also installed in my new desktop PC, and it ran great. I was buying music like crazy, playing it 24/7, and having a great time.

So why switch from iTunes?

Basically, it was a big trail of events. First, it wasn't open source (I find it ironic that Apple uses a UNIX base for Mac OS X, but you have to buy the thing...). After I was kinda bugged by that, the problems with Vista were insane. It wouldn't open. It would give errors. This, that, the other. So I almost uninstalled it, but kept faith. Apple released a patch, and all was well. But then, I noticed 2 things that I had forgotten about:

"iTunesHelper.exe" starts up on boot automatically- if you remove it, the next time you start iTunes, it makes the startup entry again.
"iPodService.exe" starts up in the same manner as iTunesHelper, except that if you DELETE it, it either:
a) makes it again
b) gives you this error, with an option to not show it again, but the option does nothing- it shows up EVERY SINGLE TIME
You would think iTunes would ask "Do you have an iPod?" before installing the other 50+ MB of crap that goes with it.
There is also an iTunesService (or something along those lines) that puts itself as a freaking Windows Service, to FURTHER slow your boot down (and IMO, it is probably a marketing thing to make you think "Wow this PC is slow, I wonder if a Mac is faster?")

(In case you don't know, I am very critical about programs I use, and if just one thing is off (ex: "theobject" instead of "the object" in a window) somewhere it will force me to send an email to the developer, and possibly uninstall the whole program. I am *VERY* picky.)

I am happy to announce...
I uninstalled iTunes from my laptop a month ago- it hasn't changed a bit, and will never see my hard drive again.
As well as my desktop PC that is running Vista

However, this is what blew me off the edge. I spent an hour looking on the Apple Support site for an iTunes feedback option, that is no longer there (that made me even more angry!!!), after finding out...

If you are on Vista, and you run iTunes: iTunes does not uninstall fully.

I kept getting Apple Software Update appearing every week or so, and about 2 1/2 hours ago, did a search (I love the Vista search ) for "Apple". Out of a total of about 50 items, about 30 were leftover from iTunes/Quicktime. They took up almost 200MB! And I havn't even run a RegEdit search yet, oh boy...

-----New Music Player-----

I have switched (both personally, and other people) over to the open source program musikCube (http://www.musikcube.com/) that does the same thing as iTunes, but I can put it on my Linux PC, WITHOUT DRM, and WITHOUT lag or suspicious startup entries.

-Brandon

1196

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Off topic gaming fun

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 03, 2007, 09:16 PM »

This whole post is semi-off topic, but it is kinda cool. Figured I would post, might as well.

(It took me 30 MINUTES searching Google for an "[offtopic]"-type forum command until I gave up, came back to the post page, and noticed the "spoiler" option. Man...)

Spoiler

My email is inaccessible due to a friend hogging my hard drive over the weekend, so I decided to have some fun and finally build my little virtual office in the online world of There. I have been trying to make a decent one for the last 6 months, and I was able to get something that matched the environment without drawing a whole lot of attention.

If you want a screenshot...
http://img138.images...edcarzz200711qb6.jpg

Left fort/tent holds my virtual computers, garage behind me stores a car, and the house off to the right is my little "chat room". Basic, cheap, and effective. And fun.

I doubt it, but if anyone plays There I will be online for the next hour or so, send off an IM!

1197

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / It worked... :O

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on November 03, 2007, 07:14 AM »

OK, I am going to be honest. I didn't think it would work. I really didn't. I thought SystemCare would stop everything- I spent the last 3 days just thinking about how much of a train wreck it was going to be.

So I kinda was feeling down last night and went to bed around 7. Woke up at 2AM, yada-yada. It is now 5:08, and I am VERY happy () to say...

I integrated everything without a hitch!

I don't know how, but I did it. It really...works.

I would post a screenshot, but I did nothing with the GUI so thats mostly pointless (well I did make it a few pixels smaller, but thats not really interesting). Now all I have to do is add TaskbarTime, a functional () (auto)updater, and the traymenu.

1198

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on October 31, 2007, 06:08 PM »

EDIT: POS means two things, one I won't list here...

-wreckedcarzz (October 31, 2007, 05:49 PM)

  I presumed it wasn't that

-tomos (October 31, 2007, 05:55 PM)

lol I have had to explain BOTH "definitions" to people, so its a bit awkward every time

1199

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online/CompuTech (my) programs

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on October 31, 2007, 05:49 PM »

looking good - keep it up Brandon 

what are these parent approaching etc buttons (& POS!!![???]) 
just curious

-tomos (October 31, 2007, 04:45 AM)

Figured someone would ask sooner or later; surprised at how long it took for someone to ask!

(Anyways...)

The right column of the AutoType area is made mainly for teenagers/kids (like myself) that have parents that feel the need to constantly watch (and annoy ) us while we IM/chat/etc on the computer. The right side is a s set of buttons that, once clicked, hides the SnapSuite GUI (therefore activating the below window, usually the IM window), sends a set of messages based on the button clicked (like Emergency mode is a lot more "important" then just a Cleaning).

This feature is in the current EasyChatClear (hence the Clear), just open it up via the Start Menu (go into EasySuite, then pick EasyChatClear) or for keyboard fanatics, it is usually "C:\Program Files\CompuTech EasySuite\EasyChatClear\CompuTech EasyChatClear.exe". Click the EasyClear button at the top, and there is all is. The new version hides the window for you, but EasyChatClear requires you to click in another window within 2.5 seconds (so have notepad or something ready when you try it!). It enters the appropriate text, sends it, then minimizes the window. Very handy (and it can also be used at work when your a bit "off-task" talking in the office chat server about how the boss needs to give everyone a raise, and he/she happens to walk by... ).

EDIT: POS means two things, one I won't list here, but in this case it means "Parent Over Shoulder"

1200

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Updated picture!

« Last post by wreckedcarzz on October 31, 2007, 01:51 AM »

New screenshot! I have FINALLY gotten EasyControl's GUI converted (oh god what a mess that is...now for the actual CODE! )

But, AppLaunch is in a "Stable" state, as is AutoType. SystemCare is ready for the actual code to be placed in, and then TaskbarTime is the last one. The updater, however, is still being planned.

Making progress, slowly, but making progress!
-Brandon