Recent Posts

1501

General Software Discussion / Re: HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 11, 2015, 06:46 AM »

Sounds like the keyboard has sticking keys but one thing you could do is change the CMOS battery, (normally a CR2032), it's probably nothing to do with the problem but if you haven't changed it previously, then 5 years is a long time considering there's no knowing what state the battery was in to start with.

-4wd (September 11, 2015, 05:14 AM)

Thanks, I never knew that existed!

Yeah, speaking of a 5-yr old PC and all the trouble it's causing me at the moment, I am seriously contemplating whether I'd be better off getting a new PC (or even an ultrabook, as it's about the same price). The thing that's holding me back is that this system was still fairly usable just a couple of months ago, so it seems like a waste not to try to restore it.

-dr_andus (September 11, 2015, 05:46 AM)

You might hang onto it as your "guinea pig machine."  When you want to experiment try stuff on the expendable machine first. 

1502

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 04:01 PM »

Los Ultimos Dias - A Spanish sci-fi movie where people cannot go outside anymore. This is a well-made movie, even you don't understand Spanish.

The male actors carry the story fine, for me the female lead character overdid it at the end. I guess the director banked on her 'pleasing-the-eye-ness' to get away with that end scene.

-Shades (August 03, 2013, 12:39 PM)

Makes me think of THX 1138.  It has been so long since I watched it I forget the plot.  But Robert Duvall had the lead.  The cities are all underground and the police are robots.  The first feature length film by George Lucas.

1503

General Software Discussion / Re: Deleting Recovery Partition and Merging to C drive

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 01:16 PM »

I have almost zero experience with GPT type drives.  The only thing I did on my Laptop was carve off a piece of C: to use as a data partition.  But I have heard you can run into problems if the recovery partition is not there when restoring images and that type of thing.

Since the space you are recovering is only about 1.3% the size of your current C: partition it may be worth wasting a GB and change to avoid problems.  I did quite a few multi-boot systems in the old MBR days but that experience is nullified with this UEFI/GPT stuff.

1504

General Software Discussion / Re: HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 12:54 PM »

Anyway, VSS still doesn't work, but upon restart AOMEI has been able to get started, so I'm moving ahead (for now).

-dr_andus (September 10, 2015, 12:07 PM)

Have you checked Volume Shadow Service in the services.msc applet?  It may be set to disabled.  On my Laptop I have it set to automatic but often I have to start it manually using this command from an administrative command prompt:
net start vss

For some reason it seems if I start it manually once then it survives warm booting for the rest of the day.  If it is already running using net start doesn't hurt anything.  It will show a message saying vss was already started. 

1505

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 12:41 PM »

Surely we need some color! 

-mouser (September 10, 2015, 12:35 AM)

I agree.  White is just too... white.  Especially at night.

-wraith808 (September 10, 2015, 08:14 AM)

When I used fractal flames made with apophysis as wallpaper the File Explorer white background was really distracting as the flames usually had a dead black background.  It was like glare.  A regular on a system modding forum changed the Aero theme to have Antique White as the Explorer background color.  It made a big difference.

I have trusty ColorToggle FF extension if needed though. 

1506

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 12:27 PM »

As useful as that private test area was, it involved quite a bit of ugly hacking around with a bunch of scattered areas of the forum codebase, and in my effort to keep things clean i am hesitating porting it over.

-mouser (September 10, 2015, 10:17 AM)

It's not something used every day anyway.  One can just preview and modify someplace or other I guess. 

1507

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 12:25 PM »

That mouser-enhanced-mod has not been migrated to the new forum.

-Ath (September 10, 2015, 10:05 AM)

How about the scripting tags?  I know at least ahk had syntax coloring on the old board.  That was a nice feature.

Edit:  I got it.  The opening tag is  "code equal autohotkey"

Code: Autohotkey [Select]

1. ;to start the block
2. ;
3. ;there would be ahk code here if I typed any such as
4. var := 1 + 1
5. ;
6. ; just use the code end tag  slash code as usual to end the block

1508

Official Announcements / Re: Forum Upgraded August 30, 2015 - Report issues here

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 08:53 AM »

I forget what the tag was, maybe "[autohotkey]" that displayed ahk code with syntax highlighting.  Is it available on the new board?  (I just found out about it a few weeks ago.)

Edit:  Also I can't find a test post subforum?

1509

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for White-on-Black or Transparent Menu-Less Text Editor

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 08:49 AM »

-- Do you happen to know if the down arrow key can be bound to move the cursor down a line when another program (flight simulator) has the focus?

-CodeTRUCKER (September 10, 2015, 07:12 AM)

I don't think so, you're kind of restricted to what hotkeys you can set (and their purpose) in the Options.

You'd probably need a small AHK script to send captured down keys to Stickies as wheel-down when the FS window has focus - someone knowledgeable in AHK (which I'm not ) should be able to do it easily.

-4wd (September 10, 2015, 08:08 AM)

This should be close enough to edit into what is needed

Code: Autohotkey [Select]

1. #SingleInstance ignore
2. #NoEnv
3. SendMode Input
4. SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
5. return
6. ; instead of Progman for desktop change to the
7. ; class for Flight Simulator (use WinSpy to get it)
8. #IfWinActive ahk_class Progman
9. $Down::
10. ; instead of class for Notepad use the class
11. ; for Stickies
12.   ControlSend,,{Down},ahk_class Notepad
13. return

1510

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for White-on-Black or Transparent Menu-Less Text Editor

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 07:08 AM »

Searching for a free Windows editor that has optional menubar I found this link:
http://vim.wikia.com...nus_to_see_more_text

vim may be a bit different than most Windows editors.  But it may not feel that foreign for your purposes.

I didn't check to see if the background color is configurable but I would be surprised if not.  Likely there is a vim variant that has more options if this one doesn't do it.

1511

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2015, 06:54 AM »

Cellular 2004 which was given a remake into the Hong Kong film Connected 2008.
Both are energizers with nonstop action that never gets tiresome.

-bit (September 09, 2015, 11:17 PM)

I haven't seen this film.  So I have no idea if this review is on the mark.  But generally this site is a good resource for Hong Kong movie reviews.  I have read it for many years.  It also has bios with pics of many HK and Chinese actors to complement sites like AsianWiki and d-addicts.

Edit:  Also if you hate Wong Jing films http://lovehkfilm.com is the site for you. 

1512

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: GOTD Zoom Player Pro 10

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 07:06 PM »

I don't know about Max Diet.  But I do know Zoom installed and activated.  I have less than an hour of WiFi time left so I'm not going to mess with it tonight.

1513

Post New Requests Here / Re: [Request] Debugging Tool for Dynamic Verbs in Context Menus

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 05:42 PM »

I'm doing this not just to make the context menus more pleasing to the eye but, in the first instance, because many are longer than the height of my screen. Not only do they take a long time to generate, the verb I'm after, Properties, is right down the bottom! :-)

-gr3gw (September 04, 2015, 02:00 PM)

I have noticed this on my Laptop.  Especially with only 768 vertical pixels it fills up with junk fast.  Although in my case I was able to get it to fit by setting many programs to use  submenus.

1514

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 02:44 PM »

To hell with it.  I set minimum font size in FF and chrome to 18.  In chrome I set the font to Ariel Black.  At least now I can read the text. 

1515

Found Deals and Discounts / GOTD Zoom Player Pro 10

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 10:25 AM »

GOTD Zoom Player Pro 10:
http://www.giveawayo...zoom-player-pro-10/#

One of the few giveaways where the thumbs up is over 50%.    I haven't used zoom much myself.  But from some of the user reviews it appears to have some unusual features.

1516

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 09:45 AM »

Ok I found a driver posted in July on Toshiba site.  Supposedly it is a 15.200x driver.  It's a very slow download.  But maybe around noon I will be able to try it.

Edit: I don't understand.  It has the same 14.301.x AMD video driver.  The only thing different was an option to install "application profiles" whatever they are.  I installed them.  But everything looks the same.

1517

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2015, 08:52 AM »

It is a Toshiba Laptop using the built in screen.  I am using the highest res.  1366 x 768 which says Recommended.  I suppose I could try some of the 12nn x 768 for grins.

Edit:  I tried all the other resolutions and the text looks even worse.

-MilesAhead (September 07, 2015, 07:32 AM)

That it's a laptop adds another layer of complexity. Some laptop manufacturers have customized mobility drivers that one must install in order to have a satisfactory experience. Installing vanilla drivers off the AMD site results in sub-par performance.

-Innuendo (September 08, 2015, 06:53 PM)

Since it came preloaded would not the driver be from the Toshiba set?  Another fly in the ointment with this is the only model number I have to work with is c55D-A which hardly narrows it down.  But I see many posts on Toshiba forums about fuzzy text and no mention of special drivers.

But I will take a look.  For Firefox this userChrome.css helps a bit
font.weight 800 important

but I haven't found a way to do it in chrome browsers.

Edit: from the bottom label it is a Toshiba Satellite Laptop C55D-A5201
I don't know why they just didn't put the whole number on the top label.  Duh. 

1518

Found Deals and Discounts / Panda Global Protection 2016 100% discount

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 08, 2015, 07:50 AM »

Panda Global Protection 2016 100% discount

link:
http://www.topsoftba...iscount-coupon-code/

2 days 15 hours and change left as of post time

PCMag review:
http://www.pcmag.com...,2817,2465113,00.asp

1519

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 04:31 PM »

For some reason I don't understand a 15.x driver package released this July has a 14.100.0.0 video driver.  What the machine came with.  But I did find a package with a 14.300.x driver.  I can't tell if it is any better but it seems to be no worse than the 14.100.x.  Only the driver wants to instll and I had to kill the hung installer.  But at least video still looks as good as the 14.100.x

I think I will quit unless something better pops up.
I switched the browser font to Ariel.  It is a bit easier to read.

1520

General Software Discussion / Re: HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 08:03 AM »

BTW, I have another PC where I also have had trouble updating the AMD drivers, and the only way the installation was willing to go ahead was when I caved in eventually and selected "AMD Gaming Evolved App"--which I didn't want to do and for which I have no use whatsoever.

-dr_andus (September 07, 2015, 05:42 AM)

Can't say I've ever had that problem, actually I can't say I've ever had a problem with ATI/AMD drivers at all.

If you want to get rid of the Gaming Evolved thing, look for Raptr in Control Panel->Programs and Features and uninstall it, (had to do it yesterday on my parents machine).

-4wd (September 07, 2015, 07:33 AM)

Installing the 15.x beta I did get an issue with the driver install hanging at around 97% done.  If it is a conspiracy or just tired hamsters I do not know. 

1521

General Software Discussion / Re: HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 08:00 AM »

@shades the weird thing is I didn't try the 15.x driver for a long time because it is still labelled Beta.  It has been out for quite a while to be a beta.  It's like they gave up on it.

Hmm, I just found a newer 14.x driver and a 15.x from July 2015.  I will try them out.

1522

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 07:39 AM »

@shades the weird thing is I didn't try the 15.x driver for a long time because it is still labelled Beta.  It has been out for quite a while to be a beta.  It's like they gave up on it.

1523

General Software Discussion / Re: Readon HD 7310 Blurred text with overall faded look

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 07:32 AM »

That blurry text almost looks like a resolution issue. What screen resolution are you running over there, Miles?

I've had Radeon cards for years & my old HD 5850 just keeps trucking along. The only trouble I've had is a bug in their most recent drivers with Diablo 3, but a work-around has been found for that so it hasn't impacted me significantly.

-Innuendo (September 05, 2015, 09:34 AM)

It is a Toshiba Laptop using the built in screen.  I am using the highest res.  1366 x 768 which says Recommended.  I suppose I could try some of the 12nn x 768 for grins.

Edit:  I tried all the other resolutions and the text looks even worse.

1524

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 07:27 AM »

Then there was the man who worked in a straw factory.
He was rather a desperate fellow, always clutching at straws.

-bit (September 06, 2015, 03:58 PM)

Not only that but when the factory went out of business eventually he got to the last straw.

-MilesAhead (September 07, 2015, 07:11 AM)

Which broke the camels back. 

-crabby3 (September 07, 2015, 07:19 AM)

But satisfaction brought.. damn!  That only works for cats, not camels.

1525

General Software Discussion / Re: HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2015, 07:24 AM »

The mention of uninstalling drivers reminded me of an old support trick that often works in Windows.  Boot into safe mode if possible.  Open Device Manager(right click on Computer then click Proerties and you should see either a tab or link for it depending on the Windows version) then expand the section for the video card.  Find the video card and right click it then click uninstall or delete(whichever it says.. it may vary with the version.. not sure.)  Confirm you want to delete the driver.  Reboot to normal mode.  Windows should detect the hardwre and reinstall the driver.  About half the time it works much better than before this was done.

It only takes a few minutes so it is worth a shot.