Recent Posts

1751

General Software Discussion / Re: Should licensed Vista users get free upgrade to Windows 7?

« Last post by Darwin on November 22, 2008, 09:50 AM »

Darwin, why not simply install 64bit Vista instead of mucking around with the server stuff?

-f0dder (November 22, 2008, 09:10 AM)

Er...  Actually, that's what I'd like to do! However, I messed up when I bought my notebook and bought one with a 32-bit OEM install. I'd have to pay full price for Vista 64-bit whereas as a student I was given a free licence for Windows Server 2008. As I had a spare SATA drive gathering dust, I thought I'd give it a whirl!

1752

General Software Discussion / Re: Should licensed Vista users get free upgrade to Windows 7?

« Last post by Darwin on November 22, 2008, 02:35 AM »

I've tried out Windows Server 2008 and there are things to recommend it - navigating around it *seems* simpler (probably lack of UAC!), for one thing. However, there's not much to choose between it and Vista in terms of speed at boot and overall responsiveness, IMHO. My Vista installation has a lot of 3rd party apps installed and running, WS2008 has an AV/AS app and that's about it. Vista is 32-bit, WS2008 is 64-bit and that's my prime motiviation for giving it a go. Vista's back in the notebook, but when I have some free time I'd like to swap the drives again and play around with Server. For one thing, I'd like to get a photo editing app and Office 2007 installed and see if the extra gig of RAM that the 64-bit OS recognises will have any effect on performance under load...

1753

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 22, 2008, 02:26 AM »

That's interesting, Curt. Vista is quicker to boot than XP Pro for me... I did mess around with some settings to perk it up -don't remember what I did though! I used this blog posting from Ed Bott as a rough guide, though. I haven't timed my boot time with Vista, it HAS slowed down over time (getting on for five months) but is still brisk. I should take a look at it and see if I can perk it up, but it's well under two minutes (my XP machine is a second under two minutes as reported by BootlogXP) and I am not really that bothered by it.

1754

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 09:09 PM »

Well... my OEM install of Vista Sp-1 was like that initially as well. In my case, though, I've installed a fair number of applications so assume that that is the source of the slowdown.

1755

General Software Discussion / Re: Converting DRM protected music files: software recommendations

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 03:46 PM »

If you want this application go to the website - download the Pro version and install it. When the installation finishes it opens up a webpage offering the Pro version for $3 as a Thanksgiving Special!!

http://www.wmatomp3-...a-converter-pro.html

-Carol Haynes (November 20, 2008, 03:15 PM)

AFAICT, this only applies if you have already purchased a licence for Media Converter... the GAOTD installation isn't going to get you into their customer database (they require your name and e-mail address).

http://www.wmatomp3-...sgiving_upgrade.html

1756

Living Room / Re: church managment software

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 03:22 PM »

Fellowship One Pricing
Monthly pricing, setup and implementation consulting fees vary based on the desired edition and the Typical Worship Attendance (TWA) of the church. The TWA is the average number of adults and children that attended your church's worship services each week over the past 3 months.


A Fellowship Technologies Account Executive will consult with you to determine the edition that best fits the unique needs of your church, ensuring that you only pay for the features you can fully utilize. Please click here to have someone contact you with pricing details and a live demonstration of Fellowship One.

Looks like it should be pretty easy to find out how much it costs, but I tremble at the thought of how much the Basic version (let alone the others) is likely to cost!

1757

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 03:12 PM »

Ah... OK, I've gone through two reboots to check this out and you're right, f0dder. Applying the settings suggested in the newsletter Curt pointed us to results in [NumProc]=2 being added to the boot configuration. When I removed it and rebooted the line is absent entirely.

If anyone else wants to confirm this (after changing settings in msconfig as outlined above) - run a Command window as administrator (Start - type 'cmd' into the search bar, right click the link that appears and select "Run as administrator", click "continue" and then type "bcdedit" at the prompt and hit enter). You'll need to reboot each time to see a change as any changes made in msconfig require a reboot and are not reflected in the BCD area until after a reboot...

1758

General Software Discussion / Re: Converting DRM protected music files: software recommendations

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 02:37 PM »

Heh, heh - that was my point - once you've paid your $9, I presume that the product is licenced in your name and you should thus be entitled to any free updates that are released and to support as well.

1759

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: New Getting Organized Experiment?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 01:27 PM »

what would this "whatever" involve?

-tomos (November 20, 2008, 01:24 PM)

Likely whatever the supervisor decides!

1760

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 01:26 PM »

You may achieve that - or possibly the complete withdrawal of the plus version!

-Carol Haynes (November 20, 2008, 01:19 PM)

  Hadn't thought of that! This is why maniacal autocrats are doomed to fail - shortsightedness 

1761

General Software Discussion / Re: Converting DRM protected music files: software recommendations

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 01:24 PM »

Sorry BigJim - can't answer  your questions as I've never tried Daniusoft Converter. My gut tells me that once you pay the $9 upgrade to Pro fee, you should be free of the Giveawayoftheday "curse"! If you're converting iTunes files, look at Noteburner. It installs a virtual CD drive that you can burn to right out of the iTunes interface. It automates the whole process ("burns" to the virtual drive and then re-rips the "burned" CD). If you're on a budge, I'd look into the feasibility of using a free Virtual CD drive to create a disk on your harddrive, mount it in WMP or iTunes and re-rip it. I don't see why this shouldn't be possible, but I'm just the ideas man! (wish I'd thought of it before splashing out for Noteburner - though I only paid $19 for it...) 

1762

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:50 PM »

Hmm... I just checked my boot.ini file and it hasn't changed since I installed Windows (August 6), so I don't know that it is changing that field, which in any event is not present.

1763

General Software Discussion / Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:50 PM »

I'll just keep using the current version- no problems with it.

-wraith808 (November 20, 2008, 12:31 PM)

Yes - that's most likely what I shall do as well...

On a side-note - I bought ActiveWords about four years ago and it's STILL being updated free of charge - three updates in the past three months. It's gotten much more stable and I have it installed on both my Vista and my XP notebooks (very generous licencing scheme allows me to use it on pretty much any computer to which I have access). I don't use it (or any other launcher) all that much, but I am impressed with it after having given up on it a couple of years ago. Don't know at what point a release was made that addressed my objections, but as it stands today it is a very fine application, and not terribly expensive ($49, I believe). It has addins that provide system wide spell checking (my complaint with it is that AFACIT it doesn't have an option to give you any choice between alternate spellings), phrase complete, insertion of boiler text, etc. etc. Worth a look.

FWIW - I currently use FARR more than anything else 

1764

General Software Discussion / Re: Converting DRM protected music files: software recommendations

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:39 PM »

For Windows Media Player and mp3 files, I've had good experiences using MUVaudio. I've used Total Recorder and Noteburner with iTunes files...

Note - just noticed Curt's post about Daniusoft Converter - definitely worth a look at that price!

1765

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:29 PM »

  I edited my post while you were adding your comment, f0dder... I'll have to check the boot.ini field that it set and get back to you.

1766

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:24 PM »

Heh, heh... I googled that tip, didn't see anything AGAINST it so tried it. Result? I swear it significantly INCREASED my boot-time, but otherwise, no adverse effects 

EDIT: it occurs to me that on boot I got the "Windows is Applying Updates. Do not power off your computer" (or whatever the wording is) warning, so that most likely explains the increased amount of time for the computer to fire up. The increased time was evident from the BIOS splash screen to the black screen with the Windows emblem in the middle of it...

1767

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 12:09 PM »

My e-mail has been answered:

I am sorry to inform you that MailStore Home Plus is currently not available for purchase.

 

The note goes on:

We do, never the less, have special promotions going on ever so often. So if I may suggest so, you could subscribe to our newsletter under:
http://www.mailstore...m/en/newsletter.aspx
That way, you will keep up to date, when the next such promotion will take place.

So I guess for now it's the Home version for me. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful as is, but I'd love the convenience of being able to schedule backups. C'est la vie...

Now people! Do your bit and write in - my cunning plan to overwhelm them with e-mails requesting Home Plus will only succeed if more people write in! Together we can rule the world! [cue maniacal laughter] 

1768

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 20, 2008, 08:39 AM »

I've written to DeepInvent (developers of MailStore) asking about Home Plus 3 and lamenting the price of MailStore Office and Server from my perspective as an individual. I'm hoping that if enough people indicate that they want access to scheduled backups and an increased number of profiles the company will see a demand and a potential market and revise its licensing structure. Home Plus is already in place - they just need to set a price and make it available via their webstore!

1769

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 19, 2008, 04:18 PM »

I like the new version a lot. It's much quicker than version 2, if memory serves. I'm with Allen, though, I'd like to move up to Home Plus but regret that there isn't an easier way to do it. For now, I'm going to see if the Home version suits my needs.

1770

Found Deals and Discounts / WaggleImage on Bits du Jour (Nov 18 2008)

« Last post by Darwin on November 19, 2008, 12:16 AM »

Bits du Jour are offering WaggleImage tonight at 62% discount.

This looks interesting - in the same category as Nuance's PaperPort. Anyone heard of/used it before? The price is certainly attractive at that discount.

Developers website is here.

1771

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: XYPlorer ($15) Nov 24 at BDJ

« Last post by Darwin on November 18, 2008, 07:47 PM »

Well said, Dormouse 

1772

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: XYPlorer ($15) Nov 24 at BDJ

« Last post by Darwin on November 18, 2008, 07:07 PM »

João is referring to the FileForum postings and an exchange that occured on the XYPlorer forum, I think...

1773

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 18, 2008, 06:58 PM »

Ah, thanks Carol! I assumed that it was no longer possible to get the Home Plus version this way. I'm definitely going to check this out 

1774

General Software Discussion / Re: GemX - missing in action

« Last post by Darwin on November 18, 2008, 06:48 PM »

Wow! Things have changed around GemX - I've already had an answer to that e-mail as well.

1775

General Software Discussion / Re: MailStore Home 2.5.1 released with lots of improvements

« Last post by Darwin on November 18, 2008, 06:29 PM »

Thanks for alerting us to this update, Carol (and for doing the leg work on the upgrade for Home Plus 3, though I don't qualify, sadly). I'll have to take another look at it as I am performing with only the flimsiest of nets in Outlook 2007 (I have two installations on two different computers sync'd and back them both up separately, but I'm aware that I need some backup...).