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2376

Mini-Reviews by Members / MiniTool Partition Wizard PRO - do we need a mini review of this software?

« Last post by IainB on March 05, 2015, 09:22 AM »

I received this somewhat odd PM (personal message) today from @skylly: (the ID shows Posts: 0)

Dear Sir/Madam,
This is MiniTool stuff,We sent you a message through your fellow workers kindly told us this email,so I write this for a software review of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is one of the most popular hard disk partition tools and it was one of the top 10 windows APPs on CNET. It has over 13 million downloads on CNET. You could check more information about this tool here: http://partitionwizard.com/.

Details about request:
1, you can write your own way of writing review about MiniTool partition wizard 9.0.
2, you can decide to review posted time.
3, We will provide a MiniTool  Partition Wizard Professional Edition 9.0  license code for you
4, If you have any question about review,please feel free tell me,thank you.

Sincerely,   
MiniTool

-skylly (March 05, 2015, 02:47 AM)

Not sure what to make of this. Is it likely to be some kind of spam?
I wouldn't usually review a piece of software unless I was or had been using it for my own purposes and had found it to be worthwhile writing about (hence I don't generally write negative reviews).
I don't see MiniTool Partition Wizard PRO (currently at version 9) being of use to me at present, snce I don't really need to muck about with partitions, except where it is part of something else - e.g., AOMEI Backupper FREE + AOMEI Partition Assistant FREE - Mini-Review

There are perfectly adequate reviews around for earlier versions of this software, as listed at http://www.partitionwizard.com - it seems to be reasonably well-received. The reviews look at the Pros and Cons in a relatively balanced fashion. Maybe it's simply the case that getting more published reviews on an increasing number of different forums/websites is an objective for marketing purposes, I don't know.
Anyway, I'm not currently contemplating doing a review for this.

2377

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Hard Disk Sentinel PRO - Mini-Review

« Last post by IainB on March 05, 2015, 08:47 AM »

@40hz: Thanks. After considering what you wrote there, I decided not to fiddle about with it, largely because it would not necessarily be productive/useful.

2378

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks

« Last post by IainB on March 04, 2015, 05:54 PM »

That was a full course meal Ian!
A web clipper add-on like Evernotes' for Firefox would be a nice addition.
Thanks again! 

-dantheman (March 04, 2015, 01:46 PM)

You're most welcome.
RANT ON/
I had thought to mention Evernote, but as per separate discussions in this forum, I don't think its current incarnation is up to much, and I would like to go back to the version that had a FREE and very good client component - but that doesn't work with the current Cloud-based Evernote service. (Sigh.)
I used to think that if EN and ON were somehow merged, then that might be a good idea, but now I am not so sure, and I only have ON as the PIM I could really recommend for a future migration path (which is why I have taken that route for myself).
ON is hard to beat, and with MS Office integrated withal for a paltry US$10 (Corporate Home Use licence), I reckon it's a no-brainer. That does not mean it is perfect by any means - you only need to re-read my comments to you above to see where some gaping holes still require patching up. (Those comments do not provide a comprehensive list of ON failings either, though this entire thread does provide some more!)
For example, I can hardly believe I am still having to rely on the FF extension ScrapBook to store copies of web pages; and what about the Windows Desktop Search (Index/Search) non-integration with OneDrive-based notebooks? How did that all happen?
/RANT OFF

2379

General Software Discussion / DON'T use MS OneNote to capture whole webpages.

« Last post by IainB on March 04, 2015, 11:55 AM »

@dantheman: Thanks for your response above, I think I understand your question about capturing web pages in OneNote now, and I might be able to help.

Basically, copying parts of the content of web pages into OneNote is potentially useful, though you may have to tediously reformat some of it to make it look better. However, copying the content of an entire web page into OneNote is not something that I do, and nor would I recommend it..
If you wish to capture web pages in their entirety, including any required linked/embedded file types, and to zero or "n" levels deep (selectable), then the Firefox ScrapBook extension (version 1.5.11 currently) is essential. It faithfully captures all the html and files in WYSIWYG.

Explanation:
A: In Firefox: to copy part of a web page to a OneNote notebook, the steps are:

• 1. Select as a block those parts of the page which you want to copy and save to a OneNote notebook.
• 2. Press Ctrl-C - copies the material selected.
• 3. Alt-Tab to the OneNote window.
• 4. Press Ctrl-V - pastes the material from Clipboard to the OneNote page you select, in RTF (Rich Text format), and appends some metadata, including the URL it was copied from.

B: In IE: to copy part of a web page to a OneNote notebook, the steps are:
You could use the same steps as for Firefox (above), but alternative methods are:

• 1. Select as a block those parts of the page which you want to copy and save to a OneNote notebook.
• 2. Either:
  (a) Send to OneNote:
  
  • Press the Send to OneNote button - the material selected is copied and pasted into a OneNote page (you can set/select the default destination page to receive the material).
  (b) OneNote Linked Notes:
  
  • Press Ctrl-C - copies the material selected.
  • Press the OneNote Linked Notes button - the screen splits into two with the browser window on one side (usually set as the LHS by default), and a OneNote Linked Notes window (usually set as the RHS by default).
  • Press Ctrl-V - pastes the material from Clipboard to the OneNote page you select, in RTF (Rich Text format), and appends some metadata, including the URL it was copied from.

Notes:

• 1. Depending on the browser you are using, the content of the copied/pasted results may differ in some minor way between browsers. The output is not WYSIWYG - e.g., in the web page colours copied - and the amount/type of metadata shown at the foot of the copied item may also differ. Usually, material sourced from IE seems to have fuller metadata.
• 2. The content of the copied/pasted results is not WYSIWYG because it is not an html copy but an RTF copy, and OneNote mucks about with the format - e.g., including column widths, turns a single horizontal row of icons/images into a series of rows - one for each icon/image.
• 3. To copy ALL of a web page in Firefox or IE, use the Ctrl-A button, to first select ALL content on the page, in the steps above.
• 4. To copy ALL of a web page in IE, it is quicker if you don't select any data and then use the Send to OneNote button, whereupon the whole page is copied by default.
• To copy ALL of a web page in IE as a scrolled image broken into pages, you can use two approaches (both result in 'orrible output):
  
  • (a) Via the Send To OneNote tool (invoked by pressing the Windows+N keys) and then selecting the Send To Onenote (D) button in the tool window that pops up. This button is only integrated/operative with/for IE + MS Office products.
  • (b) By printing the page to the Printer defined as "Send To OneNote 2013". This also works for printing from any application.

• Unfortunately both (a) and (b) above not only have the imaged output for a single long web page broken into discrete pages of images in OneNote, but also the output reformats and makes a serious hash-up of the content - e.g., narrowing the width of text columns, splitting text from any associated embedded images in the web page, and often truncating the RHS parts of all wider embedded images. The 'orrible results are pretty much identical to the output when printing to a PDF printer.
• You can get an excellent scrolled screen capture (image) of a web page - see Test of the OneNote Clipper bookmarklet "button" that you drag to Favorites.
• None of the above image output  - e.g., including Print To OneNote, Send To OneNote tool, and Print as PDF - contains embedded links. That is, embedded links are lost.

2380

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks

« Last post by IainB on March 03, 2015, 06:22 AM »

@dantheman: Which version of OneNote are you using?
It sounds as though you might be using the "FREE" version of OneNote. If that is the case, then it is pretty constrained.

2381

Living Room / Why are there so many engineers among Islamic radicals? (paper)

« Last post by IainB on February 28, 2015, 04:32 PM »

From a Spanish website (some English): Oriente Miedo
This one rather surprised me. If you are a computer engineer, then you might like to see how you fit the demographic profile here...

Why are there so many engineers among Islamic radicals (paper) - Diego Gambetta + Steffen Hertog.pdf

Having read and studied the Koran over several years now, my reaction on reading this paper was the observation that the rather convincing evidence/hypotheses given in this paper had probably been staring me in the face all that time, without my consciously registering it or even becoming intuitively aware of it.
A most interesting paper (assuming that it is genuine).

2382

Living Room / Medical Coverage Due to Injury Caused by Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP/UFO)

« Last post by IainB on February 28, 2015, 04:02 PM »

Earthfiles.com Science | Update with Press Release - John Burroughs Has Received Full V. A. Medical Coverage Due to Injury Caused by Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Radiation at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge in December 1980
(Extract copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)

...February 22, 2015 Albuquerque, New Mexico - Today retired USAF Tech Sgt. John Burroughs and his attorney, Pat Frascogna, from Jackson, Mississippi, announced in a press release the "U. S. Government's De Facto Acknowledgement of the Existence of UFOs." This breakthrough comes with the Veterans Administration finally granting John Burroughs in January 2015 full medical disability for bodily injury in the line of duty when John twice encountered mysterious aerial lights in the U. K.'s Rendlesham Forest on December 26 and 28, 1980, a dense, tall forest growing along RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge. ...

2383

Living Room / Re: Ghacks is dying and needs your help

« Last post by IainB on February 28, 2015, 12:47 PM »

I have tended to only go to the Ghacks website occasionally, whenever a search took me to them, but I generally found the site to be consistently good value so I whitelisted it in ABP and NoScript just now. I also subscribed to the website in my Bazqux feed reader, which probably means I'll tend to visit it more often.

2384

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Greasemonkey version differences.

« Last post by IainB on February 28, 2015, 04:39 AM »

Most likely because I'm lazy and don't go looking for updates, and the add-on doesn't auto-update.  Plus it works with the scripts I'm using so there's never been a reason to update it.

-4wd (February 27, 2015, 04:56 PM)

OIC. Thanks. My reason for not updating from Greasemonkey v1.15 to v2.3 is because I read that the NEW version is so different that apparently it could disable some of the the functionality in some of your scripts that worked fine under the OLD version. Not backwards compatible, I guess.  
That version change seemed to happen around the same time as http://userscripts.org/ was taken out of service or something...
Now you can't get at all those OLD scripts.
Then http://userscripts-mirror.org/ was set up ... and then of course, there's Wayback.

2385

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: AdBlockPlus and BehindTheOverlay.

« Last post by IainB on February 27, 2015, 09:20 AM »

Here are votes for:

• ABP = AdBlockPlus and its Select an element to hide option.
• BehindTheOverlay - removes those dark overlays that obscure your view of webpage content.  

I've found both of these extensions to be  very useful from time to time, blocking the annoying pop-ups or repetitive images that you find on some sites, and that obscure the content on the page that you are trying to read.

2386

General Software Discussion / Query re Firefox (Pale Moon) Greasemonkey Extension used by @4wd.

« Last post by IainB on February 27, 2015, 08:49 AM »

@4wd: in the list Firefox (Pale Moon) Extensions used by @4wd (your FF PaleMoon extensions), you have Greasemonkey v1.15.
Is there any reason you have not updated to v2.3?
Thanks.

2387

Find And Run Robot / Re: Problem: episodic FARR error - a non-appearing active FARR window.

« Last post by IainB on February 27, 2015, 03:45 AM »

Just an update.
After further puzzling, I've determined to resolve this problem. I'll try to make a note of what's running whenever this problem occurs again, and post it as a note in this thread. That could be useful.
I hadn't been doing that (making a note) so far, as I had been lazily waiting for the problem to "go away" with a system update.
I suspect it might not be a problem with FARR, but something in the system that is somehow causing an interrupt to the screen refresh task in FARR.
FARR is one of the most useful tools in my toolbox and I want to get it back functioning properly and consistently.

2388

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Off-topic discussion with thread moderator.

« Last post by IainB on February 27, 2015, 12:02 AM »

Any chance we can desist from amending thread titles
If a thread needs a new title then it probably needs a new thread
I understand you might be trying to draw attention to something but it's very disruptive if you've been following a thread for a while (it makes it seem like your just trying to draw attention to your post)

-Target (February 26, 2015, 03:49 PM)

Sorry @Target, I did not intend to be "disruptive" and was only using the functionality built into this discussion board for our use, with the objective of focussing the comment subject line more specifically on the actual content of the post, so that people could get the sense of the content from the subject line without having to read the actual post.
Though I say so myself, I think I achieved that objective quite well with:

• Use of Firefox Sync to sync add-ons + etc. + Greasemonkey scripts. - is exactly what that post was about.
• Firefox (Pale Moon) Extensions used by @4wd. - is exactly what that post was about.
  

Otherwise, they might get somewhat lost in the unending series of posts entitled with the generic "Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful."
I do it because it's potentially helpful - for example, it's the sort of thing that I would find tremendously useful as I speed-scan my Bazqux feed-reader for posts that I might actually want to open and read.
I'm sure @mouser would have thought about the possibility of people doing this. Do you think he should block this feature?

why write a post, if it doesn't get any attention?

-Curt (February 26, 2015, 04:39 PM)

The point wasn't about the content, it was about changing the title of someone else's thread without good reason
dunno about you but that doesn't seem like good forum etiquette to me

-Target (February 26, 2015, 10:27 PM)

Goodness!    I had no idea that it might be de rigeur in this forum to leave subject lines well alone because they belonged to the OP originator, or something. Let me see, hmm, that's @vegas, if I'm not much mistaken - and who started the thread on: 2005-12-02, 00:32:44

2389

Screenshot Captor / Re: SC inconsistent behaviour when capturing a "blank" window.

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 11:10 PM »

Ah, I see.
Hmm...grabbing the whole screen and then cutting out just the bit I wanted seems like it would be taking a step backwards rather than forwards, but the option "tell SC to not try to capture transparency for windows (see Widow Capturing tabs in options)" looked useful, so I tried that by unticking the "Try to capture Aeroglass transparency effects" and:
(a) by clicking on the Quick-Capture bar's "Grab Active window" button.
     Result: SC did not capture the window.

(b) by pressing the Alt+PRTSC hotkey combo.
     Result: there was no delay, and SC captured the Calendar window, but with a light blue coloured
     border whereas the on-screen window was a light brown colour.

Which is a good outcome in (b), though I have no idea why (a) did not give a result consistent with (b).
It was a similar inconsistency that I first thought I'd let you know about in the OP above.

2390

Screenshot Captor / SC inconsistent behaviour when capturing a "blank" window.

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 03:24 PM »

I thought I would mention this as a point of interest. It's not a bug (that is, I don't think it's bug).

I was playing about with T-Clock settings in the Miscellaneous tab of T-Clock Redux Properties and setting it to display a calendar window.
One of the settings was - I think - selected (ticked) by default: "Close calendar on lose focus". I left that setting selected, as it seemed like a useful option.
I then brought up the Calendar window, intending to take a screenshot of it using SC.
I then brought up SC, and noticed that the Calendar window disappeared as it lost focus (so the option was working correctly).

So, I got SC to display its Quick-Capture bar, and then brought up the Calendar window again.
When I clicked on the Quick-Capture bar's "Grab Active window" button, the Calendar window went black, there was a delay, the Calendar window disappeared, and there was a "ping" alarm sound. After Ctrl-Tabbing about, I found that SC had output the following error message in a new window in the back, behind the other windows (i.e., not On Top):

---------------------------
Error Capturing Image
---------------------------
ERROR: No content was found in the captured image.
This can happen if you have installed a security application that is blocking Screenshot Captor from functioning.
To solve this problem, you may need to add Screenshot Captor to the list of trusted/allowed programs in your security application.
For additional information see the help file or visit the DonationCoder.com forum.
If you were intentionally capturing a blank image, disable this check on the Miscelaneous Tweaks tab of options.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

So, I brought up the Calendar window again.
Then I pressed Alt+PRTSC, and the Calendar window went black, there was a delay, the Calendar window disappeared, and there was a "camera shutter" sound. In the SC work area, SC had captured an entirely blank image of the calendar window.

These steps are all repeatable and with consistent results.

Since I could not capture the Calendar window using SC, I resorted to capturing it using the OneNote Screen Clipping tool (via a hotkey combo) - which worked just fine, though it is not as good as using SC because the OneNote tool has an on-screen rectangle which has to be manually dragged and sized by one corner only, around the window being captured, and it is difficult to get it spot-on.

2391

General Software Discussion / Firefox (Pale Moon) Extensions used by @4wd.

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 02:18 PM »

At the risk of duplication I thought it might be useful to cross-post this recent, and rather relevant and informative comment from @4wd:
(Thanks @4wd - there are some extensions there that look quite handy and that I don't think I have tried out yet, so I shall get busy.)

Tnx. Any particular add-ons you would recommend? 

-bit (February 04, 2015, 08:56 PM)

I have the following installed in Pale Moon x64 (non-portable):

- Advanced URL Builder 1.6.29
   Append selected text to the URL of your favourite site.
- Bluhell Firewall 2.5.0
   Lightweight Ad-Blocker and Tracking/Privacy Protector.
- Download Statusbar 0.9.10
   View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar
- DownloadHelper 4.9.24
   Download videos and images from many sites
- DownThemAll! 2.0.18
   The mass downloader for Firefox.
- Extension List Dumper 1.15.2
   Dumps a list of the installed extensions.
- Form History Control 1.4.0.2
   Manage Form History (view, edit, delete, clean-up, export/import)
- Ghostery 5.4.1
- Google search link fix 1.4.9
   Prevents Google, Yahoo and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them. This is useful when copying links but it also helps privacy by preventing the search engines from recording your clicks.
- Greasemonkey 1.15
   A User Script Manager for Firefox
- Lightbeam 1.0.10.2
   Lightbeam is a Firefox add-on that allows you to see the third parties that are collecting information about your browsing activity, with and without your consent. Using interactive visualizations, Lightbeam shows you the relationships between these third parties and the sites you visit.
- Master Password+ 1.21.3
   Various enhancements for built-in "Master Password" feature
- Open RegEdit Key 0.2.0
   Open selected registry in the registry editor from context menu.
- RefControl 0.8.17
   Control what gets sent as the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis.
- RequestPolicy 1.0.beta8.2
   Control which cross-site requests are allowed. Improve the privacy of your browsing. Secure yourself from Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and other attacks.
- Self-Destructing Cookies 0.4.6
   Fix the web. Gets rid of a site's cookies and LocalStorage as soon as you close its tabs. Protects against trackers and zombie-cookies. Trustworthy services can be whitelisted.
- Speed Dial [FVD] - New Tab Page, Sync... 6.7.2
   FVD Speed Dial - Speed dial button, Online Synchronization, New Tab Start Page, Organize bookmarks, Custom backgrounds, custom dials, organized groups, most visited dials.
- Stylish 2.0.1
   Restyle the web with Stylish, a user styles manager.
- Suspend Tab 0.2.2014050201
   Suspends background old tabs automatically to save memory usage.
- Tab Mix Plus 0.4.1.6
   Tab browsing with an added boost.
- TinEye Reverse Image Search 1.1
   Adds TinEye search context menu item for images.
- TrashMail.com 2.7.1
   Create disposable email addresses.
- Vacuum Places Improved 1.2
   Defragment your places.sqlite database to speed-up Firefox

I could probably get rid of a couple since they seemed like a good idea at the time but I never use them.

-4wd (February 04, 2015, 09:33 PM)

2392

General Software Discussion / Use of Firefox Sync to sync add-ons + etc. + Greasemonkey scripts.

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 02:02 PM »

Thought this might be of interest/use - I originally posted it in another part of the DC Forum:
(Note that Sync is enabled/disabled via the Tools | Options menu.)

...More often than not once you run a few FF in various places sync just scrambles everything into a pile

-MilesAhead (February 26, 2015, 10:32 AM)

When I read that, I thought I should mention that my experience of using FF (Beta update channel) is that, quite to the contrary to what you stated, FF Sync works like a charm.
The only real problem I have had with FF tends to be what is an apparently common recurring problem that, on the beta update channel, with all the frequent updates, FF performance tends to occasionally decline/misbehave to the extent that the only way to fix it is to start FF up in base form (i.e., without any add-ons, etc.), and then re-install all the add-ons and Greasemonkey scripts etc. manually. I got the advice to do that from some helpful forum/blog posts, and it turned out to be good advice.
However, there was a real problem with following that advice - you are then forced into a seriously tedious exercise of manually re-installing all the add-ons and other stuff, which is a proverbial PITA.

I discovered that I was able to automate it all (except for Greasemonkey scripts) through the use of FF Sync, which automatically re-installs all the add-ons and other stuff (e.g., including bookmarks) that you can choose to sync. You may have to manually reset some settings, but that's about it.
However, I had to reinstall the Greasemonkey scripts manually, which was another PITA. Then at some stage a Greasemonkey update introduced an option to "Enable Firefox Sync for User Scripts", so that got rid of the PITA.

FF Sync has been operating thus, apparently faultlessly, for me and for a long time. I changed to the latest version of FF Sync some time back when they first introduced it. Sync has enabled me to sync FF smoothly across 3 computers, even with up to 3 different users sharing/syncing things like the FF bookmarks on those computers. FF Sync is pretty smart.
The only surprising thing I find about FF Sync is that it doesn't scramble the stuff up.

-IainB (February 26, 2015, 01:42 PM)

2393

General Software Discussion / Re: Why won't my laptop run Firefox?

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 01:42 PM »

...More often than not once you run a few FF in various places sync just scrambles everything into a pile

-MilesAhead (February 26, 2015, 10:32 AM)

When I read that, I thought I should mention that my experience of using FF (Beta update channel) is that, quite to the contrary to what you stated, FF Sync works like a charm.
The only real problem I have had with FF tends to be what is an apparently common recurring problem that, on the beta update channel, with all the frequent updates, FF performance tends to occasionally decline/misbehave to the extent that the only way to fix it is to start FF up in base form (i.e., without any add-ons, etc.), and then re-install all the add-ons and Greasemonkey scripts etc. manually. I got the advice to do that from some helpful forum/blog posts, and it turned out to be good advice.
However, there was a real problem with following that advice - you are then forced into a seriously tedious exercise of manually re-installing all the add-ons and other stuff, which is a proverbial PITA.

I discovered that I was able to automate it all (except for Greasemonkey scripts) through the use of FF Sync, which automatically re-installs all the add-ons and other stuff (e.g., including bookmarks) that you can choose to sync. You may have to manually reset some settings, but that's about it.
However, I had to reinstall the Greasemonkey scripts manually, which was another PITA. Then at some stage a Greasemonkey update introduced an option to "Enable Firefox Sync for User Scripts", so that got rid of the PITA.

FF Sync has been operating thus, apparently faultlessly, for me and for a long time. I changed to the latest version of FF Sync some time back when they first introduced it. Sync has enabled me to sync FF smoothly across 3 computers, even with up to 3 different users sharing/syncing things like the FF bookmarks on those computers. FF Sync is pretty smart.
The only surprising thing I find about FF Sync is that it doesn't scramble the stuff up.

2394

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 06:13 AM »

and thus easy distinction ...You basically just want similar colors as you've shown on the screen shot? May I ask why?...

-WhiteTigX (February 25, 2015, 09:02 PM)

The colours themselves are not as important as the levels of contrast between them when on a black background. It's a matter of ergonomics and visual perception. It's super easy on my eyes and easy for my peculiar eyesight to read all those items and easily discern them from one another - with that particular colour combo. There may well be other combos, but I settled with relief on that one as it was the first really decent one that I was able to generate after fiddling about with the settings in BetaClock.
By comparison, the standard Windows calendar display or the otherwise excellent calendar display in T-Clock are visually just too bland and indistinct for my eyes, and also, of course, the range of months displayed does not meet my requirements.

2395

Find And Run Robot / Re: Problem: episodic FARR error - a non-appearing active FARR window.

« Last post by IainB on February 26, 2015, 05:28 AM »

@mouser: In response to your Qs:
1. Network mapped drives: There are no network mapped drives.
2. Launching files from removable hard drives: I do sometimes launch files (videos) that are on removable hard drives, but this is relatively rare. I wouldn't usually want to invoke FARR whilst a video was playing though.
3. Drive letters from scanner or similar device: There are no such and no other attached devices. The only drives are:

• C: the main hard disk drive.
• D: a DVD drive, but it cannot see/play DVDs due to a so far unfixed and apparently common Toshiba+Win8 error.
• E: an SDHC card, entirely used for Readyboost function.
• W: A Wuala encrypted partition on the C: drive, that Windows thinks is a "disconnected network drive" when it is not in use - which is most of the time.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L855D and has an optionally installed proprietary Toshiba hard disk read/write caching accelerator which occupies a segment of RAM.

2396

General Software Discussion / Re: Beware of download sites

« Last post by IainB on February 25, 2015, 11:23 AM »

^^ I guess that covers PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Software"), but not NSAware of course - because the latter isn't harmful per se.

"Do no evil"

Yeah, right.

All's fair in love and war.

2397

Living Room / Re: Many smart devices are spying on you

« Last post by IainB on February 25, 2015, 11:13 AM »

Probably nothing surprising in the above. It's a fact of life.
It has long been known that Open systems are great except that the only really secure system is a closed one that is not connected to anything else.
Personally, the only devices I would recommend connecting to the Internet are PCs, and even then I'd suggest people ensure that the audio/video functionality is locked down (defeated) except when you want it on, and that you monitor which devices and MAC addresses are accessing the wifi or other modem/router. Whilst monitoring traffic, I once spotted what looked suspiciously like a router device emulation software sparking into brief life and then shutting down and becoming invisible. I took a snapshot of the Windows Explorer device window that it appeared in but could find little information about it on the web except that it seemed to come from a certain manufacturer.

I suspect that, post-Snowdengate, we can probably take it as read that, regardless of any protestations to the contrary, Big Corporates and Big Brother are shamelessly in cahoots and able to and will utilise all available technology to monitor all phone traffic, VOIP traffic, P2P traffic and email accounts and trading accounts (e.g., Amazon).
The terms "Privacy", "Confidentiality" and "Security" seem to have become somewhat meaningless, if not a joke.

2398

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Logitech G910 Keyboard Review

« Last post by IainB on February 25, 2015, 10:21 AM »

Logitech drivers generally seem to be a bit flaky. Not only do some G930 driver updates seem to be unstable and which stop the driver from working properly at all, but there are 3 "programmable" buttons on the Logitech G930 headset and which you can set to (say) Previous - Replay - Next ("Play Previous track", "Replay current/last track", and "Play Next track") in Windows Media Player, and these seem to have stopped working at all in Win8+.
To get the drivers stable, I have had to go back to an older version(s) that works, but those buttons are still defunct.

Similarly with the Logitech "games software" that is bundled with the Logitech Couch Mouse - it seems to create a useless system overhead and cause problems and keeps phoning home and is best uninstalled. The mouse drivers themselves usually work fine just on their own, though some mouse-clicking behaves strangely in some games (e.g., single-clicks actually creating double clicks).

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Find And Run Robot / Problem: episodic FARR error - a non-appearing active FARR window.

« Last post by IainB on February 25, 2015, 10:03 AM »

Anyone have any ideas about this?
Ever since going to Win 8 (now using Win8.1-64 PRO)  I have been having an annoying episodic error with FARR, and which is not always repeatable. DcUpdater says I have the current/latest version of FARR as 2.213.01.

The symptoms are this:

• 1. The FARR process has been started and is already running.
• 2. The hotkey combo has already been set as FN+Pause.
• 3. Pressing the hotkeys, FARR sometimes does not display at all, or the display is barely perceptible as a very faint image, as though it was partially hidden by the background or semi-transparent. At these times, it is unusable - it can't be clicked on or brought to front as the active window. It can only be closed by terminating the FARR process via the Task Manager, or similar.
  As a test, I set a sound file to run when the FARR display is brought up, and that seems to consistently work OK.
• 4. Restarting FARR does not always fix this problem.

Thinking it might be some incompatibility/conflict that would disappear after a Windows Update, I have waited in vain for this FARR display error to cease. I have started avoiding using FARR because it is made unreliable/unusable and a PITA by this error.

Not sure whether this is related, but I have also been having a problem with InfoSelect 8, where, though the proggie starts up OK and works OK, the screen display does not refresh after you move the navigation keys - even after several moves/changes - that is until you move the mouse over the middle to RHS of the screen and that then seems to force a refresh to what the latest state of the screen should be after the navigation changes/moves.
I have spent hours checking, reinstalling and resetting IS8 features, thinking that there might be some kind of corrupted file or database, but all seems tickety-boo.

The screen display seems to work fine in all other situations otherwise and tests out OK and with current drivers, etc., so I think it cannot be a GPU display issue per se.

2400

T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)

« Last post by IainB on February 25, 2015, 09:02 AM »

@WhiteTigX: Thanks. Well, there's hope for that request then.
I've been wanting to get that calendar display, and been hunting for software to do it for years. I had it all with BETACLOCK, but BETACLOCK stopped working at XP(SP3) and above.