Recent Posts

2276

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 23, 2015, 02:23 PM »

Doesn't seem unfair at all to me.

-wraith808 (March 23, 2015, 11:06 AM)

Depending on the fee, not in and of itself. It just seems indicative of the direction.  Everything going to tighter control.  Browser extensions signed, getting away from Pay Once and use it Until a major version change, for software.  Now if you are flush one month and broke the next everything you click on your PC might come up "Not Implemented."

The movie Repo Men might not be many years away from reality.  I must be getting old and nostalgic for the good ole' days. 

2277

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 23, 2015, 10:40 AM »

Bill P recently sold WinPatrol.  There was a big deal made on the transition about picking someone who would continue the same traditions yadda yadda.  I'm not really bashing the new developer trying to make a few $$.  It's just that everything seems to be trending to having a meter attached.  People with longer names will change them to short ones because when they sign something online they will be charged per keystroke.  Pay toilets won't have a coin box on the door but on the toilet paper dispenser.  Pull on the roll and watch your bankroll dwindle.

It's like the bean counters are going to nickel and dime us all to death.  Every gimmick and angle will be exploited.

2278

General Software Discussion / Re: WinPatrol going subscription

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 23, 2015, 10:22 AM »

I wonder what will happen to the Free functionality?  WP was one of those I didn't really need the paid version. But when it was on a discount I bought a license just because I used it for so long.  Seems we are headed towards a "pay as you click" system.  Every time you hit the refresh button on a browser a .wav file will play "KaChing!" sound and bill your PayPal.

2279

General Software Discussion / Re: MxNitro Browser

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 23, 2015, 05:34 AM »

I use Kmeleon at times like doing an image backup with Macrium.  I don't think I want to be hogging the processor with a dozen instances just to browse a few pages.  Strange what they spend their time on.

2280

General Software Discussion / MxNitro Browser

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 07:19 PM »

http://thenextweb.co...es-30-faster-chrome/

I guess I don't keep up.  I just noticed MxNitro.  For grins I got the Version:   1.0.1.600 portable and tried it.  Just sitting at the home page is has 4 processes running.  The scheme is to have a bare bones browser that is lightning fast.  As I posted on the Maxthon Community forum, I can see being stripped down for speed, but I think it takes it to an extreme when you cannot even mount your favorites toolbar as a toolbar.  At least I couldn't figure it out.

I have nearly all folders on my bookmarks toolbar.  The browser pulled them into the menu.  But to use them I have to click the favorites button, then favorites toolbar, then the folder, then the favorite.  It defeats the purpose entirely.  I urged them to allow a bit more in the way of configuration.  But I fear any suggestions will be smothered by in-group out-group intolerance.

So far it loads fast and goes fast.  But can you do anything once you get there?  Read text and look at the pictures seems to be about it.

2281

General Software Discussion / Re: MoveIt 1.3.2.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 02:17 PM »

MoveIt 1.3.2.0  Fix errors in Window Movement routines.

2282

General Software Discussion / Re: MoveIt 1.3.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 02:15 PM »

Great to see this being updated Miles
I still using an older version on my win 7 desktop - and am just after adding it to my Win 8.1 laptop.

Also just updated the mini-review I had written (a couple of years ago now!).

• I still have to add the hotkey to close all Explorer windows (havent used it yet)
• also seem to have missed out on whatever the middle-mouse button does [edit] I see info about it in the about box [/edit]
• [edit] I see I also missed out on other stuff from the about box - will add [/edit]

Was wondering if you could skim though the review and tell me if I missed out on any of the features, or if anything else needs to be updated?
Thanks

-tomos (March 22, 2015, 12:06 PM)

Hi.  I will be happy to look through your review.  Please download the latest version 1.3.2.0 as I found a bunch of bad code in the windows movement calls.  It does run smoother now.  But I am sad to say it still seems to need Run As Administrator to use the middle mouse button as hotkey.  Now that I see some of the WinMove calss I'm surprised they worked at all.  

It should also work better moving non resizable windows to the corners(snap) .. at least I hope so.

Edit:  I read the review.  One minor typo in the version number you have 1.2.3.0 instead of 1.3.2.0.

I think you covered the utility's functionality nicely.  I am very glad you enjoy using it.  Thank you for investing the time to review it on the forum. 

2283

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 10:46 AM »

MS moves stuff around and edge cases happen too much for me to get involved with anything before the final rollout.

-TaoPhoenix (March 22, 2015, 10:41 AM)

Another thing you can do is install VMWare Player Free and use a W10 ISO when it is finally available, to take a test drive.  If it is not appealing deleting the VM returns the used HD space. 

2284

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 10:43 AM »

If you have a spare hard disk and sufficiently sized pen drive laying around, feel free to download a trial iso of Windows 8(.1), create a boot-able pen drive using that iso (Rufus is one of the easiest tools I know), disconnect your main hard disk, connect the spare hard disk and start installing.

There is no surer way to test if your system is able to handle a new OS. And by disconnecting your main hard disk you won't make any (unintentional) changes to your main OS. After you are done testing...disconnect the spare hard disk and reconnect your main hard disk and you are ready to roll again in the comforts of your trusted OS.

 

-Shades (March 22, 2015, 09:19 AM)

If lacking a HD suitable for internal mounting(for example you have an external USB or a 3.5" bare HD/USB dock combo, and a Laptop) an alternative would be to create a backup image to the bare drive or external before the attempt.  Bear in mind if you haven't actually restored to the PC using the imaging restore there is always the chance it will not boot or it may come up with some features garbled.  The only way to know for sure is to restore to the metal.  Preferably on a guinea pig PC of similar configuration if you have one.

Shades' method has fewer unknowns if you have the hardware on hand.

2285

General Software Discussion / Re: MoveIt 1.3.1.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 10:30 AM »

MoveIt 1.3.1.0 Fixed Middle Mouse Button hotkey.  Also Quadrant Snap checks size after resizing to prevent the moved/sized window extending past the work area.

I was using HitTest message to make sure the middle mouse button was only being held on the Caption Bar to avoid interfering with scroll drag in some programs such as Firefox.  But it wasn't working on W8.0.  But if you are scroll dragging it is unlikely you would be hitting other keys at the same time.

Eliminating the Hittest also improved the Quadrant snap response.  Since this seems to be usable now I added checking for programs that have minimum dimensions when resized.  I get the size after the resize operation and use that when checking the window fits on screen.

Download link is in first post.

I also added the option to my page to show a version number rather than the size of the download.  As I update programs I'll post the v.x.x.x.x number from now on.

2286

General Software Discussion / Re: MoveIt 1.3.0.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2015, 09:10 AM »

MoveIt 1.3.0.0  Fixed Explorer Window Stagger routine to handle duplicate Explorer Windows.  Now if you want 3 or 5 views of the same folder for drag and drop it will handle it irather than moving the first one it finds to the different positions.

See first post for the new download page.

2287

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 21, 2015, 01:37 PM »

When I check for updates I see something called something like fbl_impressive_10041 Professional and a Windows Defender definition update, but both of those things quickly disappear and it says "your device is up to date"

-Deozaan (March 21, 2015, 01:21 PM)

You should post a followup to that thread.  Brink does most of the tutorials and gives support right in the tutorial threads.  It won't be ignored.

Edit: I'm not sure exactly how it works myself but supposedly you have to join the Windows Insider Program to be able to do the updates.  Brink knows the nitty gritty details.

Edit2:  I did the first update to get the 9926 ISO from the update code as I mentioned.  But everything is so glacial inside my Laptop W10 VM that I vowed I would only make VMs from ISO files I downloaded from now on.

2288

General Software Discussion / Re: Remove Embedded Watermarks in Videos

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 21, 2015, 09:29 AM »

if you are doing this in order that you can distribute/sell/remove-credit-from videos that someone else has made, against their wishes, we don't approve of such things and this forum is not the appropriate place to learn how to do that.

-mouser (March 20, 2015, 11:41 PM)

That's one reason I usually refer people to videohelp.com.  Messing with video gets complex fast.  Plus the board owner there has already made the commitment to do the policing on his site what is a legit "fair use" question and what he deletes as possibly getting into the piracy area.  It's a can of worms is the short way to express what I'm trying to say. 

2289

General Software Discussion / Re: Find/Replace different text strings in same text file

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 21, 2015, 07:20 AM »

Thanks for all the suggestions. SED looks great and powerful but I will have to get more acquainted with the usage. After searching for more information on SED, I came across this program Replace Text v2.2 from ecobyte software. It can be found here http://www.ecobyte.com/replacetext/ It also happens to be free.

It does exactly what I need and is very fast.

-wetsmellydog (March 21, 2015, 01:27 AM)

It looks like a very interesting utility.  I wish it specified what the "known problems" with Windows 7 were.  With a search string like "replace text" it's tough to find out what the bugs were.

Edit:  One thing could be it has the old .hlp format help file.  The WinHlp32.exe stub on Vista and later has to be updated in order to read the help.  I just updated mine on W8.  Someone pointed out the Windows Update that replaces the stub.

Edit2:  Anyone else on W8 the stub replacement can be downloaded here:
https://support.micr....com/en-us/kb/917607

If you have automatic updates enabled it may be academic.  But I keep mine turned off.

2290

Living Room / Re: Robert A. Heinlein - atmospheric processor question

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 20, 2015, 05:40 PM »

I read a SciFi novel maybe 6 months ago.  I don't recall the author or title, but it was all about diverting comets to Mars to get the water from the ice.  A byproduct would be a thicker atmosphere.

Naturally there are some shenanigans to do with using the comets as weapons for ransom etc..

2291

Living Room / Re: Windows 10 will be free for "genuine and non-genuine" users

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 20, 2015, 03:07 PM »

I think once you upgraded and got a license key, you could then find an ISO online somewhere and install fresh, using your spiffy new license key. But I could be wrong about that.

-Deozaan (March 20, 2015, 01:32 PM)

On tenfoums.com when the second preview build was provided via update only some people put together tools to extract the iso image from the update.  I guess MS realized they weren't going to keep them under wraps that way.  On the next preview release they also provided the ISO files a bit later.  I managed to use the tools to extract the image but I could barely keep my VM functional.  I had to disable a bunch of services and defrag multiple times to get there.  I'm glad MS decided to save me all that aggravation in the next build release. 

2292

Living Room / Re: Windows 10 will be free for "genuine and non-genuine" users

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 20, 2015, 05:44 AM »

To add to the confusion.. talk about ISOs being available after all:

http://www.softpedia...and-8-1-476120.shtml

2293

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2015, 04:21 PM »

https://www.tenforum...1-now-available.html

No ISO yet.  You have to do the update method:

https://www.tenforum...ndows-10-builds.html

2294

General Software Discussion / Re: Create Shortcut Icons for Keyboard Shortcuts

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2015, 03:36 PM »

I used the official download link

http://ahkscript.org...load/ahk-install.exe


as the link you provided had dead link.

-Nzyme (March 19, 2015, 02:09 PM)

The link you posted is the ahk installer.  The one I'm talking about is just a utility to put a Gui front end on the compiler for stuff like setting a custom icon etc..  The links for Compile_AHK II do give 404 errors.  I posted on the thread to find out if that is temporary or where they are hosting it now.. if anywhere.  It would be a shame to lose it as it is way convenient.

Here is the one I have until we can find out where to download

2295

General Software Discussion / Re: Find/Replace different text strings in same text file

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2015, 10:04 AM »

sed ?

Optionally running a Windows compiled version of that, and (nudge) using my SedTester NANY 2015 entry ?

-Ath (March 19, 2015, 09:35 AM)

It sounds like it may be a good match for sed.  The other approach that comes to mind would be associative arrays.  Like if the Xxxxxx could be used as the key and the lines the OP wants pasted in after could be the data.  Once the array is filled then it should be a simple matter of reading an input file and writing the output substituting the data from the array when a key line finds an array element for that key.  With unique keys if the data is changed it could just be stuck at the end of the file and it would overwrite the previous element for that key when loading the assoc array.

Some programmers who use the Windows Scripting.Dictionary object tell me it can easilly hold a million elements or so on a machine with a few GB of ram.

2296

Living Room / Re: Linux Mint LMDE "Betsy" Mate and Cinnamon are out!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2015, 09:53 AM »

@MilesAhead, didn't know Windows 10 could be installed on old PCs too.
If so, then that would be a first for sure!

-dantheman (March 19, 2015, 07:43 AM)

The story I've been hearing is one build works on all from phones to desktop.  But I saw one mention of specific releases for various platforms.  They may be rethinking the one robe fits all strategy.  But the posters running the 9926 build tell me it runs  on their 10 year old machines.  I've only installed it on a VM on my laptop.  All I can tell so far is W7 x64 VM seems faster to me.  But it may feel a lot different when installed on the metal.

2297

General Software Discussion / Re: Create Shortcut Icons for Keyboard Shortcuts

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2015, 05:29 AM »

I could not see the menu option "Compile with options" after right clicking the ahk script file. However, I managed to go to the program folder and run ahk2exe and select it there. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help on this...

-Nzyme (March 18, 2015, 11:50 PM)

It is a user written utility.  Did you download it from the "for those who compile" link I posted?  It's very convenient especially if you wish to embed stuff like version number etc..

2298

Living Room / Re: Linux Mint LMDE "Betsy" Mate and Cinnamon are out!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2015, 03:28 PM »

^^ I'm hearing W10 runs well on old PCs.  Let's see if it holds true for the RTM.

2299

Living Room / Re: Linux Mint LMDE "Betsy" Mate and Cinnamon are out!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2015, 09:37 AM »

Ya, and i was almost first to post on LM's blog too!
Have been patiently waiting for this version.
Always liked LinuxMint and Clem sure is doing an excellent job! 

Not sure if this is an issue but CPU has been hanging around 50C

Otherwise, this distro was a piece of cake to install and it is truly fast!!

-dantheman (March 18, 2015, 08:54 AM)

Every now and then I try a mint or another with KDE to check out this "Plasma" I keep hearig about.  But so far I haven't found one that shows me anything impressive afa Glass goes.  Mint is ok.  The genius of Windows is you have to keep tweaking it constantly.  It gives us something to do. 

2300

General Software Discussion / FF 36.01 black lag

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2015, 08:24 AM »

I noticed after updating FF 32 bit desktop to 36.01 I get a "black lag."  It seems banners especially don't fill in.  I look at a black area of the Firefox window where the site banner should be, for almost a second.  Then it clicks in.  I reinstalled 36.0 and it seems to be gone(fingers crossed.)