Recent Posts

2901

General Software Discussion / Re: problem with win8 right click

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 13, 2014, 01:27 PM »

If it has been weird out of the box chances are something preloaded was corrupted or there's a bad disk sector.

You could try running this fix
http://www.eightforu...run-windows-8-a.html

Edit:  Either that or the first time you connected to the internet it downloaded a zillion updates.  Any of which could be causing the side effect.

2902

General Software Discussion / Re: problem with win8 right click

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 13, 2014, 08:55 AM »

What do you have for Taskbar Button setting in Properties?

I don't think I've seen any report of what you are experiencing.

Edit:  Have you tried moving the Taskbar to the top and sides, then back to the bottom?  If that has no effect all I can think is there is something in the Registry that has the wrong value.

Edit2:  I would also ask here:
http://www.eightforu...com/general-support/

I searched but could not find a similar problem.

2903

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone tried USB Image Tool?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 12, 2014, 03:05 PM »

Thank you.  I'll use it with confidence then. 

2904

General Software Discussion / Anyone tried USB Image Tool?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 12, 2014, 09:21 AM »

USB Image Tool looks interesting.  It creates an image to back up your USB drive.  I assume it also puts the image back on when needed.  I'm curious if anyone has tried it.  I never heard of it until I just checked out the new downloads on snapfiles.

2905

Site/Forum Features / Re: Ideas wanted for celebrating 10th Anniversary of DonationCoder.com

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 12, 2014, 05:43 AM »

How about releasing 3652 helium balloons all with little pieces of paper attached with DonationCoder promo material printed on it? 

-Stephen66515 (September 11, 2014, 05:21 PM)

I just hope the fine for littering has a group rate. 

2906

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: force Common File Dialog instead of Common Item Dialog?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 12, 2014, 05:38 AM »

And here I wish I had a way to do the reverse, when using older software. I really like the newer Common Item Dialog.

-app103 (September 11, 2014, 07:13 PM)

The only one that really frosts my butt is the BrowseForFolder.  It's even worse if the programmer doesn't set the bit that adds the edit box. It would be so easy to subclass the FileOpen Dialog if they didn't seal it.   Talk about a clunky dialog.  Yuck!

2907

Site/Forum Features / Re: Ideas wanted for celebrating 10th Anniversary of DonationCoder.com

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 11, 2014, 05:08 PM »

In the spirit of 3 Stooges.. how about some animation where you can donate x amount of DC Dollars and in return some Troll with your avatar in place of its head, pastes Mouser with a cream pie?  

Coding such a thing is beyond my experience.  I would think some kind of gif animation?

2908

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: force Common File Dialog instead of Common Item Dialog?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 11, 2014, 03:06 PM »

So if I understand right, it's not possible to have an app that monitors when other programs call that huh... I'll call it "function"... from the system and somehow "redirect" their call to the other function ? :/

-ConstanceJill (September 11, 2014, 02:51 PM)

I don't see how you could do it without creating hacked system DLLs.  Such DLLs would likely be flagged as malware.  If anyone would know it's probably programmers on CodeProject

In their wisdom Microsoft created file open and save dialogs as closed code.  Meaning you cannot subclass them to get the default behavior for free and just add the new stuff you want.  That's why custom functions sold to programmers aren't found in free code libraries.  They usually cost a few hundred bucks.

No quick fix that I know of.

2909

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: force Common File Dialog instead of Common Item Dialog?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 11, 2014, 08:58 AM »

The only way I know would be to use older versions of software written for XP.  They would not know about the new functions.

Other than that all I can see is ask the developer for a setting telling which dialog you would rather use.  But I think the demand for the extra coding would be very small.  It's risking introducing errors to nearly zero benefit.

Perhaps if the application is open source you could try to get someone to code a variation.

2910

Living Room / Re: What type of development do you do?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2014, 05:16 PM »

Once every couple of years I write something small in C++ just to keep my hand in.  But for the most part I write simple small Windows utilities in ahk or C# for my own use.

I never wrote anything large.  My theory being by the time I finished it the software would be obsolete. 

2911

General Software Discussion / Re: comment on my business plan

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2014, 08:09 AM »

If they really just power up and play with zero maintenance then for $50 you could probably use Portable CCleaner to clear off old temp files, then one of the free defraggers that doesn't take 10 hours to run, such as Auslogics Free Defrag.

Messing with the OS seems like too much work.  Also they would probably get this weird urge to play solitaire for the first time and it wouldn't be there, thus generating a service call.  

Only you know your friends.  But when I was an auto mechanic I noticed any time I touched some friend's car they wanted to make me responsible for it for life.  My older brother was also a mechanic before he became a software developer.  I got this tip from him.  If a friend asked for help fixing his car I told him I would stand there and offer advice.  But the decision to do it and the doing of it is up to him.  If he decided to take the advice and attempt the repair, it's on him.  Worked very well.  Of course I didn;t make any money.  But I didn't lose any friends either. 

I guess the moral is with well known software it's less risky to tune up a system than to open the box.  Unless of course you are a hardware technician and are confident you can unbreak anything that gets "broken" while the box is open.  

2912

Finished Programs / Re: SOLVED: TouchPad Acer Coding Snack

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2014, 07:48 AM »

another similar tool: touchfreeze (Utility for Windows to disable touchpad automatically while you are typing text).

• https://code.google.com/p/touchfreeze/

-lanux128 (September 08, 2014, 11:34 PM)

I wasn't aware of this program.  Some Laptops have a setting built in.  But it's kind of like a dog lifting his leg.  You have to learn about it from someone with that model who knows the key or setting.  In the case of my Toshiba a press of F9 key does it. (Or Fn F9 if you don't have Fn key set to normal function key mode.)

2913

Living Room / Re: A warning to anybody who is looking to purchase a VPS.

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 10, 2014, 05:28 AM »

Some kind of terms disclosure law would be nice.  I wasted a couple of hours on a "free" web account.  The ftp upload did not work.  Finally I find the web based file uploader.  After playing around with it for 1/2 hour I notice tiny print that the total size of all files uploaded cannot exceed 1 MB.  Yeah.  That's MB with an 'M'.  It seems to be designed to waste people's time rather than rip off their money.

Sorry but I don't recall the name of it.  I found it in one of those "best free web account" lists.

2914

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2014, 05:33 PM »

I really enjoyed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
with Robert De Niro.  Talk about breaking the mold!  Instead of a monster who can only moan an guzzle beer we get the confrontation where the "monster" argues philosophy with his creator.  A must see.

2915

Site/Forum Features / Re: Ideas wanted for celebrating 10th Anniversary of DonationCoder.com

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2014, 04:35 PM »

100 days is too long to do anything.. exhausting just to think about it.
BUT, we could have a 30-day long celebration in March of 2015.

-mouser (September 09, 2014, 04:15 PM)

Just beware the ides of same. 

The promotion thing is tough as it can trigger spam warnings.  About all I have been able to do on other forums is suggest Coding Snacks when someone is looking for a freeware likely not to exist.

As far as setting a celebratory mood how about temporarily changing the site logo to something splashy?  Maybe louder colors and funkier font?

2916

General Software Discussion / Re: "Delayed Write Failed" — on FIVE computers at a time?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2014, 04:26 PM »

Czech Republic. Cursing someone is quite rare here nowadays. But one never knows. 

-yksyks (September 09, 2014, 10:39 AM)

It sure sounds like something is attacking the hardware.  If possible I would try an AV with a real time shield that you haven't tried as yet.  Since the machines are networked it stands to reason the virus has spread across the Lan.  Perhaps one of those Linux boot av scan discs will turn up something with a complete scan.

2917

Post New Requests Here / Re: Seemingly simple media player request

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 09, 2014, 07:26 AM »

While waiting for additional responses here I recommend you also post on this forum:
http://forum.videohe.../13-Software-Playing

If there's a Windows software player that does it someone there may know the particulars.

2918

Living Room / Re: Hackers vs. gray matter

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 08, 2014, 05:39 PM »

The server has to know an IP to send information back to, and that information is available to scripts running on that server if you know what variables it is kept in.

I know how it works.  The point is forums should not allow diversion of this information to 3rd party servers willy nilly.  I think I remember a few members being kicked off forums since they refused to abandon such sig image tricks.

I compare it to the single pixel image trick in html emails.  Now the email sender knows the IP of your machine rather than that of your pop3 server.

2919

Living Room / Re: Hackers vs. gray matter

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 08, 2014, 12:54 PM »

Banks, mortgage companies, tax records, shipments, money transfers ... These are all common hot topic items that are likely to cause someone to rush through resolving a seemingly really important "problem".

If you use a web based email account it can be useful to have an additional "dummy" account.  When you get some notice that some online account needs to be verified/updated it may hit a nerve.  But if you switch to the dummy account and check your mail it makes it more obvious it's a "fishing expedition" (as President Nixon used to bitch about frequently) since the dummy has no account at xyzcorp etc..

2920

Living Room / Re: Hackers vs. gray matter

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 08, 2014, 10:23 AM »

Hmmm, the one that annoyed me was the old "Your IP Address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" in a forum sig graphic.  Some forums when I complained they didn't even understand why I objected to the guy with the sig having my IP.  It's weird when you have to explain why they should not allow the graphical sig to be hosted on a 3rd party site that isn't one of the known image hosting ones.

-MilesAhead (September 07, 2014, 01:33 PM)

Your reply reminds me of the early days of computer generated shopping receipts.  Listing your entire Credit Card number.

Not being a litterbug saved my bacon...  

-crabby3 (September 08, 2014, 08:43 AM)

Heh.  I worked at gas stations back in the day of the manual roller that printed the credit card number using carbon paper.  (Probably some readers looking in Wiki to find out what carbon paper is.  Maybe it has to do with archeology?)  

2921

General Software Discussion / Re: Way to hide a desktop icon temporarily?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2014, 05:52 PM »

I don't know if these would solve all your problems, but have you tried:

Thanks for that info. 

2922

Living Room / Re: Hackers vs. gray matter

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2014, 01:33 PM »

Hmmm, the one that annoyed me was the old "Your IP Address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" in a forum sig graphic.  Some forums when I complained they didn't even understand why I objected to the guy with the sig having my IP.  It's weird when you have to explain why they should not allow the graphical sig to be hosted on a 3rd party site that isn't one of the known image hosting ones.

2923

Living Room / Re: IT Resumes

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2014, 11:14 AM »

Hmmm, instead of Unemployment Insurance, if we had a real Department of Labor, a person should be able to make a living by looking for a job.

As it is now one can: send in the resume; take the phone interview; set up a face to face and drive down to East of Eden somewhere for the interview, when the brother in law was selected before the job was even posted.  Being part of the "Nation-wide Search" to make it not look like nepotism is not fun.

Companies may be less likely to abuse applicants in this fashion if they had to compensate the applicant.  For example, offset travel expenses, lunch, and a per diem.
This way if one could schedule an interview or two a day during the week one may be able to tread water staying current with rent/utilities etc. during the period of unemployment.

As it is now the HR guy and other management at the prospective employer are all getting paid while the sincere schmuck briefcase in hand, schleps out to the interview at his own expense.  There is zero incentive not to abuse people under this system

If it cost the employer a few hundred dollars to pretend to interview someone they may actually listen during the process.

2924

General Software Discussion / Re: "Delayed Write Failed" — on FIVE computers at a time?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 07, 2014, 05:50 AM »

Jut for chuckles I would run some task every hour during the otherwise inactive time.  See if it prevents the glitch.  Also I would run chkdsk /f on all disks.  If they come up clean, if you can spare the downtime, run chkdsk /r on one to see what it shows.

Other than that the info is sparse afa OS etc..

2925

General Software Discussion / Re: "Delayed Write Failed" — on FIVE computers at a time?

« Last post by MilesAhead on September 06, 2014, 05:35 PM »

I see some similarities here such as smft, but nothing about network cards shutting off

http://www.tomshardw...delayed-write-failed

Do you have ATI video and/or LargeSystemCache set to 1?

Edit:  the section of interest is the guy who made google tweaks.