Recent Posts

2351

General Software Discussion / Re: AntiVirus with decent anti-spyware (realtime) detection

« Last post by Darwin on September 07, 2008, 07:06 PM »

So... I'm on the hunt for a light, effective AV and AS solution for Win2k. I like VIPRE, but the updates take FOREVER, very disturbing. I'm still considering it, but would like some alternative suggestions, if anyone has an opinion they'd care to share...

So far as I can tell, the choices are limited (VIPRE, ESET, Spyware Terminator - free and comes with ClamAV, but how effective is it??)...

2352

General Software Discussion / Re: Xobni beta - Outlook Mail indexer and organizer

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 01:48 PM »

Here's the thing (and I don't want to jinx it): X1 6.x is a DREAM on my computer. Snappy, doesn't hog resources, and its previewing feature is second to none (courtesy of the Stellent technology that it ships with)... Having said that, I know that in the past I've had SERIOUS resource hogging issues with it as well as it being DOG slow, and that many others have problems even with the current version. Just. Not. Me. Yet. Knock.On.Wood!

 

2353

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: ShellLess file manager

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:48 AM »

Wrong, wrong, wrong, Darwin (heh, heh - that's been stated adamantly a time or two before!):

From the FAQ:

Why is ShellLess Explorer so similar with Windows Explorer?
ShellLess Explorer is Based on windows shell, so it's ultra easy to lean how to use it. You even need no help document.

So I am still puzzled by the name... Shellshocked, so to speak...

2354

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: ShellLess file manager

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:44 AM »

Curt, your questions are the same ones that ran through my mind earlier today. The forum seems to be generally positive about it. My other question is: what does ShellLess mean? I suspect that it means that it is independent of the windows shell (?) and thus can be run even if explorer.exe is on the fritz/frozen?

Anyway, I've downloaded it already, but haven't activated it yet. Might as well do that now...

2355

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the best image-"framer"?

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:41 AM »

NB to open non-screenshot captured images in ScreeshotCaptor, you need to move or copy the image into the directory that you define for Screenshot Captor. In my case, it's the default directory which is C:\Program Files/ScreenshotCaptor/Screenshots/MyJunk

2356

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the best image-"framer"?

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:37 AM »

PS Not that I expect you are overly tempted, but PSP X2 will not doubt be giving way to PSP X3 this fall (autumn)... Thus, you should see some really cheap deals on PSP X2 soon!

Also, Photofiltre is capable of much more than my amateur attempt above - I've never used frames before...

Finally, what about ScreeshotCaptor? It does frames...



and I'm sure that you can add your own...

2357

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:03 AM »

Had to copy the old version of solitaire from my XP box though, the Vista one is awful

-Eóin (September 06, 2008, 08:43 AM)

Ah... this is possible? That comment has set the little wheels spinning over here...

2358

General Software Discussion / Re: Send some info of your PC!

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 09:00 AM »

I liked HWIFNO32 as well, but am overwhelmed by the output. So here's my "manual" version. These are all notebooks - I don't own a Desktop:

PC 1(this one I am posting from and my "daily user"):

CPU: Centrino Single Core 1.4Ghz
RAM: 2GB DDR
HD: 120 GB 5400rpm
OS: XP Pro Sp-3
Graphics: Onboard, 64MB
Soundcard: Onboard SigmaTel and external USB Live!

PC 2:
CPU: PIIIE 600Mhz
RAM: 512MB SODDIM
HD: 80 GB 5400rpm
OS: Win2k Sp-4
Graphics: ATI RAGE Mobility 128, 8 MB (flaky)
Soundcard: No idea!

PC 3:
CPU: PPC G3 500Mhz
RAM: 576 MB SODDIM
HD: 10 GB 4200rpm 40 GB 5400 rpm (check out the steps involved here. Crazy!)
OS: OS X 10.2.8 10.4.11 Tiger
Graphics: ATI RAGE Mobility 128, 8 MB
Soundcard: No idea!

PC 4:
CPU: Centrino Dual Core 2.1Ghz
RAM: 3GB DDR-2
HD: 250 GB 5400rpm
OS: Vista Home Premium Sp-1
Graphics: ATi 512MB dedicated
Soundcard: Onboard - SigmaTel

PC 5:
CPU: PIII 600Mhz
RAM: 192MB SODDIMM
HD: 12 GB 4200rpm
OS: Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04)
Graphics: ATI RAGE Mobility 128, 8 MB
Soundcard: No idea!
Korean keyboard

I also maintain my parent's G5 iMac (with Tiger on it) and my wife's work notebook:

PC 6:
CPU: PPC G5 2.1 Ghz
RAM: 2GB DDR
HD: 250 GB 7200rpm
OS: OS X 10.4.11 Tiger
Graphics: ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128MB video memory
Soundcard: No idea!

PC 7:
CPU: Centrino Single Core 1.73Ghz
RAM: 2GB DDR
HD: 40 GB 5400rpm
OS: XP Pro Sp-3
Graphics: Onboard, 128MB
Soundcard: Onboard

2359

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the best image-"framer"?

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 08:33 AM »

Photofiltre Studio has a simple but effective and configureable frame tool (Filter -> Frame) that you can play around with. There are both Studio (Pro) and Free versions (Studio is about 30 Euros) and has a lifetime licence). PaintShop Pro (59 Euros) also has a lot of frame choices that are highly configurable and will load and use frames created for Photoshop... Photofiltre will do the same, I believe.

Here's a quick frame in PSP:



and one in Photofiltre:

2360

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 07:49 AM »

Yes, welcome Rui!

2361

Living Room / Re: Another Kodak Complaint

« Last post by Darwin on September 06, 2008, 01:26 AM »

Wow. That is a dreadful story. I'd start writing and blogging. Letters to Consumer magazines might get you somewhere as would posting in discussion groups such as this and the Kodak forums, if they exist.

Don't give up and good luck!

2362

General Software Discussion / Re: Xobni beta - Outlook Mail indexer and organizer

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 05:53 PM »

Hmm... thanks people! I'm going to do... nothing for now. Carol, your experience with NEO sounds more or less like my impression of it when I tried it a couple of years ago.

2363

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 04:00 PM »

The KMS licensing requirement was created due to the XP era corporate keys being swapped around faster than a whore at a viking festival.

...and that is the only place they're used/required.

-Stoic Joker (September 05, 2008, 03:58 PM)

 

Ha, ha, thank you for the chuckle and for clarifying that. Stoic Joker, eh? Well named!

2364

General Software Discussion / Re: Xobni beta - Outlook Mail indexer and organizer

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:58 PM »

I really liked it, but I use my laptop for mail and its only got a 1.5 celeron and the performance hit on outlook was just too great.

-Grorgy (September 05, 2008, 03:35 PM)

Fudge and banana peels... How recently have you used it? Just curious as I know the performance hit was problemetic in March of this year, but was hoping to hear that things have improved!

Anyway, thank you for replying 

2365

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:53 PM »

Is this due to corporate/academic licensing or is this a requirement for all Vista users? If it's the latter, good to know!

-Darwin (September 05, 2008, 03:45 PM)

I'm not an expert, but I think it's for site licensing only.

-mwang (September 05, 2008, 03:51 PM)

Ah, thanks. I figured it wasn't a general requirement, otherwise I would have been hearing more about it! Thanks for clarifiying that.

On a peripherally related note, check out Apple's Family Pack licence scheme on OS-X (and take note MS!):

The Family Pack Software License Agreement allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple software on up to a maximum of five (5) Apple-labeled computers at a time as long as those computers are located in the same household and used by persons who occupy that household. By 'household' we mean a person or persons who share the same housing unit such as a home, apartment, mobile home, or condominium, including student members who are primary residents of that household but reside at a separate on-campus location. This license does not extend to business or commercial users.

PS the Family Pack is $189 on Amazon 

2366

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:45 PM »

Flaky indeed, especially with its new KMS licensing mechanism. Basically it requires my computer to check in with a special KMS server every 3 months to be certified.

-mwang (September 05, 2008, 03:30 PM)

]

Is this due to corporate/academic licensing or is this a requirement for all Vista users? If it's the latter, good to know!

2367

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you manage your email?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:42 PM »

Heh, heh, thanks Curt (this one's for you!).

mwang - it's because I've been posting quite a bit of drivel today...  and the post count has been updated since I made that post.

2368

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:40 PM »

I'm just trying to be a fair sport. The OS business is obviously a tough one, and I find little joy in seeing the enemy take a sucker punch from behind.

Feels kind of like shouting "Are you guys OK over there?" after the cannon smoke clears...

-Edvard (September 05, 2008, 03:02 PM)

Yes, I feel very conflicted most of the time. I'm making an effort to join the Linux camp but am actually having difficulty getting either Xubuntu or Ubuntu 8.0.4 installed on any of the three machines (8 years, 4 years, and 1 month old) that I have available to me. Actually, I do have a fourth choice: my circa 2001 iBook... Hmmm... hadn't thought of that until I sat here writing this...

Anyway, the point is that I'm upgrading the aforementioned iBook to Tiger (from whatever it is - Jaguar, I think - it's at 10.2.8 at the moment) and have Win2k, WinXP and Vista at my disposal. Although I've dabbled with Linux in the past, I'd really like to become more familiar with it... I think that flexibility is going to be essential in the coming years.

2369

General Software Discussion / Re: AntiVirus with decent anti-spyware (realtime) detection

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 03:20 PM »

Ouch! I'm slipping - the computer I've been talking about has a 120 GB harddrive with two partitions (C and E). C had windows and programs on it while E has My Documents and my Outlook and IE settings folders. C is a 28GB partition with 22GB of data on it while E is an 83GB partition with 61GB of data on it. From what I can see, both Webroot and VIPRE scan the entire drive (ie both partitions) during Deep scan but only select "bits" of C during Quick scan. Thus, I'll have to set Webroot up to do a custom, rather than quick, scan from now on so that it hits my Outlook and IE folders.

EDIT: Update - I have no idea where Webroot is scanning during Quick scans. I assume that it does scan Outlook and IE but can't be sure and have set up a custom scan to do it instead.

Anyway, main point was to give a frame of reference for the scans I wrote about earlier this morning.

2370

General Software Discussion / Re: AntiVirus with decent anti-spyware (realtime) detection

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 02:32 PM »

Just had Webroot run a scheduled daily Quick scan on my system and, being tied up with other things, completely forgot about it. Had a negligible effect on system performance.

Josh - do let us know how your test goes. I've come to realise that AV and AS applications are truly unique in how they run on each system and for each user. I know that WEbroot has had some bad press because of resource utilization yet I've had no problems with it. Likewise, I've heard bad things about SpyDoctor yet have a friend running the latest version on an anaemic P4 and 512MB RAM without any trouble. Weird.

2371

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 02:25 PM »

But I still hate it when it doesn't work -- when it suddenly decides I'm using an illegal copy and locks me out. (It happened twice here.)

-mwang (September 05, 2008, 02:04 PM)

OK - that's scary! Of course, nothing to fear if it can be resolved, but it's ridiculous to think that legitimate users (ie ME! US!) may be locked out of their systems because of flaky copyright protection software. That the end user is considered guilty (and locked out of their own system, I presume) until they prove themselves to be innocent is egregious. I say: M$, go to a single, or at most dual, version distribution (one for servers and the other for the rest of the unwashed masses) and take your cue from Apple WRT pricing: flood the market with $99-$149 copies of Vista that will serve dual duty - upgrading earlier versions to Vista's goodness or creating fresh installs on new harddrives. Drop the activation nonsense. Yes, people will steal copies (hint: even with the antipiracy features in place, they're already "stealing" XP and Vista. Illustration: I know a number of people - all teenagers - who are running pirated copies of XP. None of them to my knowledge has yet had a problem) but most people are honest and will ante up $99 or $149 to get the latest OS. Sit back and watch your profits soar...

OK Rant over (and I really do like Vista  ).

Listen! I can hear Zaine aprroaching... gallump, Gallump, GAllump <horse whinnies>, GALlump, GALLump, GALLUmp, GALLUMp...

EDIT: couldn't let the typos go...

2372

General Software Discussion / Re: Xobni beta - Outlook Mail indexer and organizer

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 01:07 PM »

OK - it's been six months... anyone out there still using Xobni? I've been thinking about alternative ways of organizing Outlook and have been looking at Xobni and NEO and thought I'd ask for post Sp-3/dust settling opinions of Xobni. I'm particularly interested in Carol's thoughts as I know she's a fan of NEO and wonder is she's still using either or both applications? They do similar things differently...

FWIW, my organization at the moment is centred aroud X1 Desktop Search and a lot of rules and folders!

2373

Living Room / Re: Vista suffering from FUD?

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 12:48 PM »

I've been running Vista 32 on a new notebook for over a month - no issues. Even the UAC doesn't bother me that much. I mean, I shake my head over the decision NOT to allow users to select something like "Don't warn me about the program/action again" but I can live with it...

2374

General Software Discussion / Re: AntiVirus with decent anti-spyware (realtime) detection

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 11:48 AM »

Note - I re-read my original post and have edited it for clarity. I've indicated the "edit" with EDIT: in the text of that post.

2375

General Software Discussion / Re: AntiVirus with decent anti-spyware (realtime) detection

« Last post by Darwin on September 05, 2008, 11:44 AM »

No, I just uninstalled it (I have current licences for both Bitdefender and AVG that I'm not using and the two licences for Webroot. I don't even want to be tempted to spend more money at the moment)! The only other issues I am aware of relate to the performance of SBAMsvc.exe. Occasionally it will freak out and crash a machine. It has done this once to my wife's work computer (a notebook she uses at home a lot). It was in the course of investigating this issue that I becamse aware of VIPRE.

One thing that annoyed me about VIPRE is that it doesn't tell you where the virus/spam/malware/trojan that it finds is located until you complete the scan. Also, if you cancel a scan, it clears the items that it discovered up to that point (so you have to re-run the scan to correct any issues AND you have to let the scan finish). Webroot retains the "found items" if you cancel the scan, letting you deal with them (though I should note that it won't tell you the location until the scan is completed or aborted, either).

With Webroot, I've disabled the check on system start feature (see screenshot) and it STILL takes a long time to load with considerable resource hit, just to warn you. Once it's loaded, though, it's very non-intrusive.