Recent Posts

151

Living Room / Re: The last time your AntiVirus saved you!

« Last post by wr975 on May 23, 2008, 06:14 PM »

Common sense is most likely good enough to avoid virus/trojan infection, but one error and ...  . It's good to have a "backup".

I never used a resident AV, but manually checked suspicious files. This was good for many years. But two months ago I stopped thinking for a moment and clicked on a wrong file. Booom... A trojan installed with defense capabilities. Disabled AV. Made sure I couldn't launch anti-Trojan tools and so on. Very clever. Very annoying. Instead of wasting hours to get rid of it, I made a backup of the system partition and restored an old image + wasted some hours to reconfigure my system configuration. Avira found the trojan in numerous places in the backup image. I felt a bit stupid. I've 2 gigs of RAM and a Intel Dual Core. It's not like I'm running a 800 Mhz machine with 256 MB memory. I think my machine can spare some CPU cycles for a resident AV. But I disabled it and had to pay the price. So, now I run a resident AV (Avira Personal with nags disabled). To answer this thread's question: My AV didn't save me, because I disabled it, but it would have.

152

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?

« Last post by wr975 on May 21, 2008, 09:41 AM »

Hi,

thanks for your feedback.  

I was unable to redo your multiple extraction cancelled bug. Everytime I tried doing so, the script caught "errorlevel 1" sent by Winrar.exe and didn't erase the archive. I tried entering wrong passwords, hitting cancel, closing the password dialog...

The same with special characters. I created various archives with names like "mäöü$%&!" and using the GUI I had no problem extracting them all. A filename containing "??" is not supported. How did you create such file?  

Perhaps you can pm me the archive files you used and/or detailed instructions, so I can do the same you did and see if I get the same error.

About multiple instances...
I've had a look at it - again - and this thread (http://www.autohotke...orum/topic12371.html) discusses the problem and gave me some ideas.

The good: I got it working. The script will now try to prevent multiple instances. The bad: Creating a job queue to process various archives is also possible, but it won't make it into the script. It's too much work. This would be a major rewrite as the script is not intended for mass unpacking. Just use the GUI for mass unpacking.  


Edit:
FWIW... just an update. This tool works just fine under Win7x64 and I absolutely love using it.... still. I could sure improve the code and get rid of the "Goto" commands *g* but it's working. No need to change anything. Getting it in the context menu is a bit tricky, especially under Win7, so I'm glad there's a great freeware program out there: http://defaultprogramseditor.com
Attached to this post is a short screenvideo showing how to add it to the context menu. This is, where it's really useful.

153

Living Room / Re: Registry hack needed: Full date in the tray clock

« Last post by wr975 on May 17, 2008, 07:04 AM »

@superboyac
Thank you for the info about BetaClock. 

This program is great. Good looking interface, good features, many configuration possibilities... A sure keeper!

154

General Software Discussion / Re: FastExplorer: Create your own Context Menu Items (Freeware)

« Last post by wr975 on May 02, 2008, 04:28 AM »

>But with so many program ideas floating around, it just seems a waste to write something that already exists.

Try creating a tool which can re-arrange existing shell-menu entries. I found quite some tools which add new menus or delete existing entries, but not help me organize them. The only tool I found doing this is HACE mmm (plus). Downside: It's not updated since years + works for few applications only.

155

General Software Discussion / Re: Splitting a large MP3 file based on .cue

« Last post by wr975 on April 26, 2008, 04:44 AM »

Try MP3DirectCut. Great program and freeware.

http://mpesch3.de1.cc/

156

Developer's Corner / Re: AutoHotKey: How to drag & drop _safely_

« Last post by wr975 on April 19, 2008, 04:32 PM »

Two ideas:

Set the window AlwaysOnTop (WinSet, AlwaysonTop, On, ...) to avoid another application stealing focus

Use IfWin(Not)Active to check if everything is OK, else goto error & abort.

157

Living Room / Re: RAPIDSHARE.COM sucks!

« Last post by wr975 on April 17, 2008, 02:47 PM »

Believe it or not, but the automated Rapidshare download tools can already handle the new "cats only" captcha... RS needs much stronger captchas.

158

Finished Programs / Re: Get Filepath

« Last post by wr975 on April 08, 2008, 05:58 AM »

Another way to get the filepath:

http://home.worldonl...reeutil.htm#pathcopy

159

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA - A different type of computer timer

« Last post by wr975 on January 17, 2008, 08:23 AM »

I've seen figures suggesting that when a computer is in hibernation it uses about 1% of the power it would use if it were running normally. The CPU fan is off so presumably the CPU isn't powered. I assume that most of the rest of the motherboard is unpowered in hibernation, so how does the computer keep track of when to switch back on? What is using the 1% power?

The autoshutdown site has a nice FAQ about this: http://www.lifsoft.com/power/faq.htm

With standby (save to RAM) your system is using some energy, with hibernation (write to disk) the system is completely powered down (that's why it's unaffected from power loss).

computer keep track of when to switch back on?

Each motherboard has a battery so your BIOS won't forget settings (like date, time, configuration... and when to wake up). Just need to mention: This wake-up setting isn't supported on every motherboard.

160

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA - A different type of computer timer

« Last post by wr975 on January 15, 2008, 06:20 AM »

Well, for me hibernating is "cold" as the power is completely off (unlike standby). 

161

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA - A different type of computer timer

« Last post by wr975 on January 14, 2008, 08:54 AM »

A hardware based solution? AFAIK "Coding Snacks" is software only...


Auto power-on and shutdown (shareware) can handle multiple "wake-up" events (cold-start).

http://www.lifsoft.com/


A real gem in this department is "D-Shutdown" (freeware)

http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/

It has real unusual event triggers to start an action (put computer to sleep, start application, ...) Like, if you downloaded less than y MB in z seconds or CPU usage is less than y percent in the last z seconds or pixel whatever changed color.

It can also wake up your computer (cold-start).

Example:

D-Shutdown to hibernate my computer when a video encoding process ended (CPU less then ten percent in 1 minute).
Another D-Shutdown task to power on the computer at 7:30 am.

162

Living Room / Re: Flash Game: Bible Fight

« Last post by wr975 on January 12, 2008, 12:50 PM »

Saw your reply just now... Thank you!!  

163

Living Room / Flash Guestbook

« Last post by wr975 on January 12, 2008, 04:18 AM »

Hi,

I'm running a small site for my church and using some foolproof utility to create it (Thundersite). With this tool it's pretty impossible to create guestbooks inside the websites template, so I was really happy to find a 100% flash based guestbook:

http://www.flash-guestbook.com/

But... they stopped their free service recently (without notifying their users. A website visitor told me the guestbook isn't working anymore) and demand $50 a year now. That's way too much.

Anyone know something similiar or an easy to setup flash guestbook?

164

General Software Discussion / Re: post your 5 most used applications in 2007 here!

« Last post by wr975 on January 03, 2008, 01:56 AM »

• Autohotkey (various scripts)
• FARR
• WinRAR
• SlimBrowser
• xplorer²

165

General Software Discussion / Re: How many of you use encryption?

« Last post by wr975 on December 21, 2007, 01:50 AM »

Will BestCrypt Traveler allow you to access encrypted containers on a machine where you do  not have admin privileges?

-mwb1100 (December 20, 2007, 11:02 PM)

Quoting the help file:
"Please note that the user should have administrating privileges to run BestCrypt Traveller software."

"BestCrypt Traveller" seems like a very limited version of commercial "Bestcrypt". I'll stick with TrueCrypt.... 100% free, no crippleware.

166

General Software Discussion / Re: Automatic file renaming - Help needed with batch files

« Last post by wr975 on December 11, 2007, 04:34 AM »

Edit: You solved it already...

167

Living Room / Re: The Dvorak Zine - fun comic telling story of the Dvorak keyboard

« Last post by wr975 on November 12, 2007, 03:16 AM »

The comic is fun. Is it supposed to be a parody of a Chick Comic, or do they really want to  convert people using Dvorak?

I'm no friend of Dvorak, just like I'm no friend of trackball or betamax. Taken from a German study for ergonomic typing: There's no proof you type faster/more accurate using Dvorak. Numerous studies (DVORAK, 1943; BAST, 1958; BROWN et al., 1966; KLEMMER, 1971; MARTIN, 1972; ALDEN et al., 1972; KINKEAD, 1976; GAKIR, 1980) came up with minor or no difference in typing speed.

Also, Dvorak is optimized for English language. To overcome the illness of QWERTY in other languages, the keys need to be rearranged. It would be better to use a different keyboard layout, like Meier or Marsan, which is optimized for English/Spanish/German/French.

Anyway, too complicated... I stick with QUERTY/Z on an ergonomic keyboard.  In some years we'll all use computers the way Johnny Mnemonic did and won't need keyboards anymore.   

168

General Software Discussion / Re: Tron's Web site - Windows freeware utilities

« Last post by wr975 on October 18, 2007, 08:57 AM »

What exactly does "reset your PC" mean? Reboot?

-J-Mac (September 29, 2007, 11:50 PM)

Means doing a 'cold reboot'... done with pressing the reset button on your PC case or pressing the power button for five seconds.

Also see http://en.wikipedia....d_Reboot#Hard_reboot

169

General Software Discussion / Re: Have any web-based applications replaced desktop apps for you?

« Last post by wr975 on October 13, 2007, 04:29 AM »

If so, which ones?

-zridling (October 10, 2007, 08:39 PM)

LogMeIn (free version) replaced an installation of UltraVNC.

The client needs an installation of the LogMeIn service module, but I can remote control from the browser.  Much better than Crossloop or any VNC based free remote control software.

170

General Software Discussion / Re: Skype trouble

« Last post by wr975 on August 16, 2007, 03:22 PM »

Skype login problems

Some of you may be having problems logging into Skype.  Our engineering team has determined that it’s a software issue.  We expect this to be resolved within 12 to 24 hours.  Meanwhile, you can simply leave your Skype client running and as soon as the issue is resolved, you will be logged in. We apologise for the inconvenience.

http://share.skype.c..._login_problems.html

171

General Software Discussion / Re: Top 3 programs you use

« Last post by wr975 on August 12, 2007, 02:04 PM »

• Slimbrowser
  
• Autohotkey
  
• xplorer²

172

General Software Discussion / Re: Experiences with TrueCrypt and disk encryption in general?

« Last post by wr975 on August 07, 2007, 05:49 PM »

A quick read in the FAQ of TrueCrypt told me following:

• It supports up to 8589934592 GB. So a 400 GB partition should be no problem.
  
• If there's an error in a file, the file is lost but the rest is not affected.
  
• And volume headers can be backed up & repaired.

I'd say you're pretty safe with TrueCrypt. Just don't forget to backup important data. That's a must, no matter if you use TrueCrypt or not. 

Spoiler

Q: What will happen when a part of a TrueCrypt volume becomes corrupted?

A: In encrypted data, one corrupted bit usually corrupts the whole ciphertext block in which it occurred. The ciphertext block size used by TrueCrypt is 16 bytes (i.e., 128 bits). The mode of operation used by TrueCrypt ensures that if data corruption occurs within a block, the remaining blocks are not affected.

Due to hardware or software errors/malfunctions, files stored on a TrueCrypt volume may become corrupted. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you backup all your important files regularly (this, of course, applies to any important data, not just to encrypted data stored on TrueCrypt volumes). If you do not have enough free space to backup all files, we highly recommend that you at least backup the volume header, which contains the master key (size of the backup file will be 1024 bytes). If a volume header is damaged, the volume is, in most cases, impossible to mount. To backup a volume header, click Select Device or Select File and select the volume. Then click Tools -> Backup Volume Header. To restore the header, follow the same steps except the last where you select Restore Volume Header.


Q: What do I do when the encrypted filesystem on my TrueCrypt volume is corrupted?

A: File system within a TrueCrypt volume may become corrupted in the same way as any normal unencrypted file system. When that happens, you can use filesystem repair tools supplied with your operating system to fix it. In Windows, it is the 'chkdsk' tool. TrueCrypt provides an easy way to use this tool on a TrueCrypt volume: First, make a backup copy of the TrueCrypt volume (because the 'chkdsk' tool might damage the filesystem even more) and then mount it. Right-click the mounted volume in the main TrueCrypt window (in the drive list) and from the context menu select 'Repair Filesystem'.

173

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?

« Last post by wr975 on August 06, 2007, 02:17 PM »

Since I had to touch the script again, here's a new version of "Smart Unpack" with some changes.

Changes:
- Refresh issue solved (I had an idea and it worked out... finally. I hated this.)
- Copying the filename to the clipboard can now be activated with a setting in the ini file.
- If configured to recycle files, it'll now properly recycle split archive files in all variations (rar).

Still not working:
Prevent multiple instances. Please don't select several files and unpack them via the context menu. If you want to unpack several files at once, use the GUI.

Upgrade instructions:
Rename the existing SmartUnpack.ini and start the tool. A new ini with new configuration parameters will be created.

How refresh works and needs to be configured:

Spoiler

To get rid of the refresh issue, I've come up with this solution: The script checks the current window and sends a F5 if you're on the desktop or using Windows file explorer.

If the current window is not the desktop or Windows file explorer, it can be assumed you're using a third party file explorer. The script will look in the ini file if you configured the "refresh" setting and send the keystroke you configured.

Example: I'm using xplorer². I'd have to enter the combination CONTROL+R (^r) in the ini file, so the script would know how to refresh the view in xplorer².

It's tested under Windows XP. Please tell me if it's not working under any other MS OS.

New version posted below... 55 downloads here. Amazing! 

174

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?

« Last post by wr975 on August 06, 2007, 06:20 AM »

Hope I'm not asking for too much.

-skywalka (August 03, 2007, 04:40 AM)

Not really... Your questions motivated me look at the source again and I made a new version. See my answer below.

SmartUnpack is just a tiny helper tool and not meant to replace a full-featured archiving utility. So associating it with "open" isn't a smart thing to do. It's best as secondary action. So, if I double-click a RAR file, Winrar opens. But if I right-click I get the option to process it with SmartUnpack. I've associated SmartUnpack with "zip" and "rar".





Selecting several files and "opening" them via the context menu is not supported. If you want to process more than one file, start SmartUnpack and drag the files in the GUI. At least, that's the idea.

But I just tested it, and I don't know who to blame... Autohotkey or Windows, but my "one instance only" setting gets totally ignored. I tried reproducing your error with unpacking 16 files, but I just got 16 Winrar instances (15 waiting, one unpacking, and so on) but no error. I've no idea how to fix that, so just don't unpack more than one file via context menu.

Anyway, hope you still enjoy.

175

Living Room / Re: Request for AHK help...I feel so dumb...

« Last post by wr975 on July 24, 2007, 11:51 AM »

>  %A_WorkingDir% automatically

Yes, the .ini file gets generated.

About "apply"... GuiSubmit is for the whole GUI... all fields. You don't have to hit apply for each variable. I don't know how this can be changed, and if doing so would be useful at all. What you'd need is a different GUI with just ONE apply button outside the tabbed box, not eleven apply buttons, doing all the same. Try using the SmartGUI creator (if you're not already doing so): http://www.autohotke...ownload/smartgui.zip