Recent Posts

2401

General Software Discussion / Re: which forums you use for PC troubleshooting?

« Last post by 4wd on July 13, 2014, 02:51 PM »

MSFN

2402

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Removing zero length files recursively at command-line

« Last post by 4wd on July 13, 2014, 05:47 AM »

Code: Text [Select]

1. REM Del0Files.cmd
2. @echo off
3. for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %%a in (`dir /os /b /s /a-d-s-h-l "%~1\*.*"`) do (if "%%~za"=="0" del "%%~a")

Call as:

Del0Files.cmd <path>

Change the:

del "%%~a"

to:

move "%%~a" "C:\Zero\%%~na"

if you want to move instead.

Here's a recursive commandline delete empty directory that I got from StackOverflow, (IIRC):

Code: Text [Select]

1. rem Del0Dir.cmd <directory>
2. @echo off
3. for /f "usebackq delims=" %%a in (`dir /ad /b /s "%~1" ^| sort /r`) do rd "%%~a" 2>NUL

For cleaning up the dirs after you delete all the files

Test it first, the rd should fail if the directory isn't empty thus skipping it.

2403

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Pro

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2014, 10:46 AM »

I have a retail product key because I bought it from Microsoft Store. The problem is that it's Windows 8 Professional x64 key. I am neither able to download Windows 8.1 Pro nor able to activate it. I keep getting the message, this key is for a different version of Windows.

-BCHOWDHURY (July 12, 2014, 07:37 AM)

That's how I got my version of Windows 8 Pro x86 and x64 licenses, from the MS Store.

If you follow the steps given in the post I refer to, (starting at point 1 which refers you to this article at MakeUseOf), you should be able to download a Windows 8.1 Pro ISO.

Looks like the ***holes at MS have neutered that particular form of ISO download now, worked for me when I did it but that was a few months ago.  It might be different if tried from a previous Windows version, (I'm running 8.1 on my netbook so that might be screwing it up), as it says you should.

There's another way but we don't mention BitTorrent around here. 

Basically, if you can get an 8.1 Pro ISO you can activate, (not install), with an 8.0 key.

2404

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Image Append - Batch

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2014, 10:37 AM »

Thanks!

Although I missed the part where the images are in pairs in sub-dirs that are named according to page.

I think I would have gone with a folder/issue with images named Page01a.jpg, Page01b.jpg, etc - would be easy to see where a snafu occurred in appending then, (eg. Page01a + Page02b.jpg =  ).

2405

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Image Append - Batch

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2014, 08:43 AM »

New new version

2406

General Software Discussion / Re: The art of finding

« Last post by 4wd on July 12, 2014, 03:09 AM »

FF context menu I can search using whatever engine is in the search box.  But it would be nicer to have a submenu with all the search engines or some other approach that's not cumbersome. 

-MilesAhead (July 11, 2014, 05:16 PM)

Advanced URL Builder



Disclaimer: I have no idea how the torrent and NZB search engines got there

2407

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Image Append - Batch

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2014, 04:34 PM »

New version

2408

General Software Discussion / Re: The art of finding

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2014, 10:55 AM »

Perhaps refine your search terms:

Model number "power" "specification"

eg.

HS06THB "power" "specification"

Second answer, (for me), is the spec sheet at Seagate, (who took over Samsung' HDD assets).

2409

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Image Append - Batch

« Last post by 4wd on July 11, 2014, 10:31 AM »

Here's something that might make it easier: gmMontage

It's a simple program that will generate a batch script to be used with the GraphicsMagick program, (that means you need to install GraphicsMagick).

New v0.0.0.3:
Modified GUI
A few more colour choices for the separator
Generates the batch to call GM, just double-click it
Can generate Horizontal or Vertical GM batch file, so for the OP, run it first as Vertical, then run it as Horizontal on the resultant images from the Vertical run, and you'll get:

AC
BD




Use the Path button to select an image in the folder you want to process, if Windows can read the image file the Width and Height values will be filled in along with the Path automatically.  You can enter the Width and Height manually if necessary, (eg. Windows can't read the info from the file) - any values you enter will be overwritten if you then choose another file.

Select a separator colour from the drop down list, (I can add more if necessary), set the separator width.  The Shave checkbox lets you remove the borders that get added at the top/bottom or left/right of the final image.

After it's finished you'll get the following window:



NOTES:
1) It outputs a PNG file, the file will be named <image1>+<image2>.png.  Thus the output is lossless but will result in larger file sizes - you can always recompress as JPG to a level that's acceptable.
2) If there's an odd number of images in the folder, the last one won't be used.
3) This was written with the constraints of the OP in mind, ie. images are all the same dimensions, orientation, and vertical/horizontal appending of two images was required.

With any luck after executing the batch file you'll get the following result:



Here's the source, executable attached:

Code: AutoIt [Select]

1. #Region ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
2. #AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Fileversion=0.0.0.3
3. #EndRegion ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
4. #include <File.au3>
5. #include <FileConstants.au3>
6. #include <MsgBoxConstants.au3>
7. #include <GDIPlus.au3>
8. #include <ButtonConstants.au3>
9. #include <ComboConstants.au3>
10. #include <EditConstants.au3>
11. #include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
12. #include <StaticConstants.au3>
13. #include <WindowsConstants.au3>
14.  
15. _GUISetup()
16. _Main()
17. _Exit()
18.  
19.  
20. Func _GUISetup()
21.         #Region ### START Koda GUI section ### Form=d:\docs\autoit\_coding snacks\gmmontage\gmmontage.kxf
22.         $Form1 = GUICreate("gmMontage", 347, 219, 335, 196)
23.         Global $Input1 = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 16, 16, 265, 21, BitOR($GUI_SS_DEFAULT_INPUT, $ES_READONLY))
24.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Path to images to process")
25.         Global $Button1 = GUICtrlCreateButton("Path", 296, 13, 35, 25)
26.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Select an image file in the folder to process")
27.         Global $Input2 = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 120, 56, 65, 21, BitOR($GUI_SS_DEFAULT_INPUT, $ES_NUMBER))
28.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Width of the SOURCE images")
29.         Global $Input3 = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 216, 56, 65, 21, BitOR($GUI_SS_DEFAULT_INPUT, $ES_NUMBER))
30.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Height of the SOURCE images")
31.         GUICtrlCreateLabel("X", 197, 60, 11, 17)
32.         Global $Button2 = GUICtrlCreateButton("Generate Vertical", 16, 184, 123, 25)
33.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Generate batch file for GraphicsMagick (Append Vertical)")
34.         Global $Button3 = GUICtrlCreateButton("Generate Horizontal", 157, 183, 123, 25)
35.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Generate batch file for GraphicsMagick (Append Horizontal)")
36.         GUICtrlCreateLabel("Image dimensions:", 16, 59, 91, 17)
37.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Dimensions of the SOURCE images")
38.         $Group1 = GUICtrlCreateGroup("Separator", 16, 88, 265, 81)
39.         Global $Combo1 = GUICtrlCreateCombo("BLACK", 22, 128, 121, 25, BitOR($CBS_DROPDOWN, $CBS_AUTOHSCROLL))
40.         GUICtrlSetData(-1, "WHITE|YELLOW|GREEN|OLIVE|BLUE|DARKBLUE|GRAY42|ORANGE|RED")
41.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Colour of the separator line between images")
42.         Global $Input4 = GUICtrlCreateInput("0", 160, 128, 41, 21, BitOR($GUI_SS_DEFAULT_INPUT, $ES_NUMBER))
43.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Pixel width of separator line," & @CRLF & "line will be DOUBLE this value." & @CRLF & "Max value: 20")
44.         $Updown1 = GUICtrlCreateUpdown($Input4)
45.         GUICtrlSetLimit(-1, 20, 0)
46.         Global $Checkbox1 = GUICtrlCreateCheckbox("Shave", 217, 129, 52, 17)
47.         GUICtrlSetTip(-1, "Shave added pixels from unused borders")
48.         GUICtrlCreateLabel("Colour", 63, 108, 34, 17)
49.         GUICtrlCreateLabel("Width", 163, 108, 32, 17)
50.         GUICtrlCreateGroup("", -99, -99, 1, 1)
51.         GUISetState(@SW_SHOW)
52.         #EndRegion ### END Koda GUI section ###
53. EndFunc   ;==>_GUISetup
54.  
55.  
56. Func _Main()
57.         While 1
58.                 $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
59.                 Switch $nMsg
60.                         Case $Button1
61.                                 Local $sTemp = FileOpenDialog("gmMontage", "", "All (*.*)", $FD_FILEMUSTEXIST + $FD_PATHMUSTEXIST)
62.                                 If @error > 0 Then ContinueLoop
63.                                 Global $sSrce = StringLeft($sTemp, StringInStr($sTemp, "\", 0, -1))
64.                                 GUICtrlSetData($Input1, $sSrce)
65.                                 Local $sTempImage = $sSrce & StringMid($sTemp, StringInStr($sTemp, "\", 0, -1) + 1)
66.                                 Global $sExt = StringMid($sTempImage, StringInStr($sTempImage, ".", 0, -1))
67.                                 Global $iWidth = _GetDim($sTempImage, True)
68.                                 Global $iHeight = _GetDim($sTempImage, False)
69.                                 GUICtrlSetData($Input2, $iWidth)
70.                                 GUICtrlSetData($Input3, $iHeight)
71.                         Case $Button2, $Button3
72.                                 Global $iWidth = GUICtrlRead($Input2)
73.                                 Global $iHeight = GUICtrlRead($Input3)
74.                                 If $iWidth = 0 Or $iHeight = 0 Or $sSrce = "" Then
75.                                         MsgBox($MB_ICONERROR, "gmMontage", "Check PATH, WIDTH or HEIGHT values")
76.                                         ContinueLoop
77.                                 EndIf
78.                                 If GUICtrlRead($Input4) > 20 Then GUICtrlSetData($Input4, "20")
79.                                 If $nMsg = $Button3 Then
80.                                         _GenBatch(True)
81.                                 Else
82.                                         _GenBatch(False)
83.                                 EndIf
84.                         Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
85.                                 Exit
86.                 EndSwitch
87.         WEnd
88. EndFunc   ;==>_Main
89.  
90.  
91. Func _GenBatch($bTemp)
92.         Local $sGeometry = "1x2"
93.         Local $sOutfile = $sSrce & "gmBatch-V.txt"
94.         If $bTemp Then
95.                 $sGeometry = "2x1"
96.                 $sOutfile = "gmBatch-H.txt"
97.         EndIf
98.         Local $bShave = (GUICtrlRead($Checkbox1) = 1)
99.         Local $iSep = GUICtrlRead($Input4)
100.         Local $sColour = GUICtrlRead($Combo1)
101.         Local $sTempFile = $sSrce & "gmMontage.txt"
102.         Local $DOScmd = "dir /b /on *" & $sExt & " > " & $sTempFile
103.         RunWait(@ComSpec & " /c " & $DOScmd, $sSrce, @SW_HIDE)
104.         Local $aFiles = FileReadToArray($sTempFile)
105.         If @error > 0 Or Not IsArray($aFiles) Then
106.                 MsgBox($MB_ICONERROR, "gmMontage", "No " & StringUpper(StringMid($sExt, 2)) & "s found")
107.                 Return
108.         EndIf
109.         FileDelete($sTempFile)
110.  
111.         Local $iCount = UBound($aFiles)
112.         If Mod($iCount, 2) = 1 Then
113.                 If MsgBox($MB_OKCANCEL + $MB_ICONWARNING, "gmMontage", "Odd number of " & StringUpper(StringMid($sExt, 2)) & "s found," & @CRLF & "skipping last image.") = $IDCANCEL Then Return
114.                 $iCount -= 1
115.         EndIf
116.  
117.         Local $hFile = FileOpen($sOutfile, $FO_OVERWRITE)
118.         For $i = 0 To $iCount - 1 Step 2
119.                 Local $sOutname = StringLeft($aFiles[$i], StringLen($aFiles[$i]) - 4) & "+" & StringLeft($aFiles[$i + 1], StringLen($aFiles[$i + 1]) - 4) & ".png"
120.                 Local $sBatch = "montage -tile " & $sGeometry & " -background " & $sColour & " -geometry " & $iWidth & "x" & $iHeight
121.                 If $bTemp Then
122.                         $sBatch &= "+" & $iSep & "+0 " & $aFiles[$i] & " " & $aFiles[$i + 1]
123.                 Else
124.                         $sBatch &= "+0+" & $iSep & " " & $aFiles[$i] & " " & $aFiles[$i + 1]
125.                 EndIf
126.                 If $bShave And $iSep > 0 Then
127.                         If $bTemp Then
128.                                 $sBatch &= " temp.bmp" & @CRLF & "convert -shave " & $iSep & "x0 temp.bmp " & $sOutname
129.                         Else
130.                                 $sBatch &= " temp.bmp" & @CRLF & "convert -shave 0x" & $iSep & " temp.bmp " & $sOutname
131.                         EndIf
132.                 Else
133.                         $sBatch &= " " & $sOutname
134.                 EndIf
135.                 FileWriteLine($hFile, $sBatch)
136.         Next
137.         FileClose($hFile)
138.         $hFile = FileOpen($sSrce & "gmMontage.cmd", $FO_OVERWRITE)
139.         FileWriteLine($hFile, StringLeft($sSrce, 2) & @CRLF & "cd " & StringMid($sSrce, 3) & @CRLF & _
140.                         "gm batch -echo on -feedback on " & $sOutfile & @CRLF & _
141.                         "del temp.bmp")
142.         FileClose($hFile)
143.         MsgBox($MB_OK + $MB_ICONINFORMATION, "gmMontage", "GraphicsMagick batch file created." & @CRLF & @CRLF & _
144.                         "Double-click on the file 'gmMontage.cmd' in the image folder.")
145. EndFunc   ;==>_GenBatch
146.  
147.  
148. Func _GetDim($sTemp, $i = True)
149.         _GDIPlus_Startup()
150.         Local $hImage = _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile($sTemp)
151.         If $i Then
152.                 Return _GDIPlus_ImageGetWidth($hImage)
153.         Else
154.                 Return _GDIPlus_ImageGetHeight($hImage)
155.         EndIf
156.         _GDIPlus_ImageDispose($hImage)
157.         _GDIPlus_Shutdown()
158. EndFunc   ;==>_GetDim
159.  
160.  
161. Func _Exit()
162.         Exit
163. EndFunc   ;==>_Exit

2410

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Pro

« Last post by 4wd on July 10, 2014, 11:50 AM »

Are we talking OEM or Retail?

OEM = No
Retail = Yes

See here.

If it's a clean install of 8.1 Pro RETAIL, then from point 4 onwards should work fine - I've done a clean install 8.1 Pro and activation using 8.0 Pro keys at least 3 times without a problem.

2411

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: free galileo board from MS

« Last post by 4wd on July 09, 2014, 03:32 AM »

It's sufficiently vague in what it says that I suspect no hardware is forthcoming, ie.

Pre-submit:

We’ll provide samples and documentation and we’ll show you how to create your own fun projects ...

This is in reference to the SDK/software.

Post-submit, the wording was along the lines of, (IIRC): "... we'll let you know when your kit has shipped ..."

Still sufficiently vague as it could be just a CD/DVD with requisite documentation/software.

Be that as it may, since I can't get the followup email maybe I'm just skeptical.  

2412

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: free galileo board from MS

« Last post by 4wd on July 08, 2014, 09:00 AM »

Sweet Fanny Adams^w is the clean version, Sweet F*** All is the more generic term.

2413

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: free galileo board from MS

« Last post by 4wd on July 08, 2014, 04:54 AM »

Are they actually sending a board? All I see mentioned is an SDK. Is it just software for the board?

-Deozaan (July 08, 2014, 01:44 AM)

Also questioned in the OzB comments, nowhere did/does it say you receive any hardware.

And, while I thought I might sign up on the off chance ... two attempts, two different email addresses ... two lots of SFA in reply.

2414

Post New Requests Here / Re: Recursively replace characters in all file and folder names Sharepoint restrict

« Last post by 4wd on July 08, 2014, 04:31 AM »

Maybe overkill but when I have files/dirs I can't rename/delete due to weird characters, I usually boot into a Linux LiveCD and fix things.

One of the guys here could probably knock up a perl/bash script if you provide before/after examples of the names.

2415

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

« Last post by 4wd on July 07, 2014, 02:14 PM »

Repo Men always kind of reminded me of the earlier Race Against Time with Eric Roberts.

The switch being that when you don't pay your medical bills, they come after you for your organs.

When a man faces surmounting bills for his dying son's hospital stay, he enters into an agreement to sell his body for organ transplants to pay the bills. However, when he is advised that the doctors want to claim his organs immediately, he goes on the run.

2416

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Easy Script to move all loose files in a folder into it's alphabetic subfolder

« Last post by 4wd on July 05, 2014, 05:51 AM »

Can you change read/write permissions on the folders, or get your sysadmin to do it for you?  I'm wondering if it would help to partially invert the logic.  That is, force  all users to write into the top-level or another holding folder, by giving them write permissions to that one only, with read-only permissions to the alphabetized folders inside.  Then, keep running your script as before on a schedule or via File Notify.  That way, everyone only need remember a single target location, the only one they can write to anyway, and the script moves the files into their correct destinations automatically.

-rjbull (July 04, 2014, 04:30 PM)

+1  Requires no simulated thought on the part of the users

2417

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Easy Script to move all loose files in a folder into it's alphabetic subfolder

« Last post by 4wd on July 03, 2014, 04:42 PM »

Forgot to change the copy to a move for your purposes, (used for testing).

You can also concat the second for and the if statements into one, saves doing the extra call.

ie.

Code: Text [Select]

1. @echo off
2. for /f "usebackq" %%a in (`dir /a-d-s-h-r-l /b d:\*.*`) do (call :extractChar %%a)
3.  
4. goto :END
5.  
6. :extractChar
7. set test=%~1
8. set char=%test:~0,1%
9. for %%b in (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) do (if %%b == %char% set char=a)
10. move "%~1" "output\%char%\%1"
11. goto :EOF
12.  
13. :END

There's no need to use tr to change lower to uppercase, MS-DOS is case agnostic.  Just create the dirs first as upper or lower case ... or incorporate this to avoid extraneous programs.

2418

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Easy Script to move all loose files in a folder into it's alphabetic subfolder

« Last post by 4wd on July 03, 2014, 04:04 PM »

I'll leave it to you to work out what to do if the first character is a space

Code: Text [Select]

1. @echo off
2. for /f "usebackq" %%a in (`dir /a-d-s-h-r-l /b d:\*.*`) do (call :extractChar %%a)
3.  
4. goto :END
5.  
6. :extractChar
7. set test=%~1
8. set char=%test:~0,1%
9. for %%b in (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) do (call :compRep %%b %char%)
10. rem Throw a mkdir in here if you want to make the dirs on the fly
11. copy "%~1" "output\%char%\%1"
12. goto :EOF
13.  
14. :compRep
15. if %1 == %2 set char=a
16. goto :EOF
17.  
18. :END

Call it every x minutes using Task Scheduler or use something like FileNotify to detect file creation in the directory and then call it.

2419

Post New Requests Here / Re: Quick script to change the recovery options of a Windows Service

« Last post by 4wd on July 01, 2014, 11:14 AM »

As an example, the following worked fine for me, (Win8Pro x86):

sc failure browser actions=restart/60000/restart/60000/restart/60000 reset=86400

First, Second, and Subsequent actions Restart after 60 seconds, failure counter reset after 1 day for service Computer Browser (service name = browser).

Naturally, you need admin privileges.

2420

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

« Last post by 4wd on June 24, 2014, 01:20 PM »

The Host
 (see attachment in previous post)
At almost 2 hours long, it is long, but by no means drawn out. They use those 2 hours very well.

If you like sci-fi, chances are you'll love this.

-Renegade (June 14, 2014, 01:44 AM)

Count me out, much prefer the Korean version: The Host

-4wd (June 23, 2014, 03:22 PM)

The stories are totally different - same title, but not the same story.

I did see the Korean one, but I didn't know that it was also put out in English.

-Renegade (June 23, 2014, 08:57 PM)

Must remember to use more emoticons.

In order:
I know they're different, (only watched about 10 minutes of the one you mention before I gave up on it).
The Korean film doesn't come in English language, which would completely ruin it as has English dubs done to countless previous films.

2421

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

« Last post by 4wd on June 23, 2014, 03:22 PM »

The Host
 (see attachment in previous post)
At almost 2 hours long, it is long, but by no means drawn out. They use those 2 hours very well.

If you like sci-fi, chances are you'll love this.

-Renegade (June 14, 2014, 01:44 AM)

Count me out, much prefer the Korean version: The Host

2422

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

« Last post by 4wd on June 02, 2014, 03:18 PM »

Yes! And I think one of the first worldwide TV broadcasts might have been the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany.

-IainB (June 02, 2014, 07:52 AM)

I prefer to think of them watching more interesting things like Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Godzilla, etc.

2423

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by 4wd on May 28, 2014, 03:53 PM »

And for the most part the snakes and spiders aren't great beach goers

-Target (May 27, 2014, 08:45 PM)

I think the sharks would go on strike if the spiders/snakes started encroaching on their traditional territory.

it's all relative - I don't know how people live in a place where carrying personal weapons is an accepted norm

+1 Give me the excitement of a possible agonizing death by a black widow in your thunderbox over the boredom of being shot amongst the endless concrete/bitumen of "civilisation" any day.

2424

Living Room / Re: Our experiences with LED light bulb replacements

« Last post by 4wd on May 18, 2014, 05:57 AM »

Replaced all the MR16/GU10 50W Halogens with LEDs, (3-4W), almost all others are CFL.  I don't think I've had to replace a CFL in the last 5-8 years, (they're all used in ventilated fittings that stay on for an hour or two at the least).

I only use LEDs or CFLs with a colour temperature that approximates daylight, (~5000K), as I find the yellowish/reddish hue of warm white annoying, (if I buy a "white" light, I want white dammit!!).

Apart from a driver failing in one of the LED GU10s, (which I replaced), they've been working for the last 4 years or so without problem.  All of the LEDs came from a generic Chinese goods online store, (cheaper than local prices), as either assembled or separate LED/driver/bodies.

I also installed a couple of 10W LED floodlights before leaving the country at the start of April, don't know if they're still working.

2425

General Software Discussion / Re: Create a profiles for users on a Workgroup and disable Homegroup options & wifi

« Last post by 4wd on May 17, 2014, 05:01 PM »

That said you might look at something like Argon Switcher to set up a couple network profiles.

-x16wda (May 17, 2014, 07:28 AM)

You can also use the Windows netsh command - set things up how you want, then 'netsh dump >worknet.cmd'

The resultant command file will allow you to restore the network configuration at any time.

Low-tech but it works.