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Recent Posts

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5626
btw...have you noticed that most of the major exploits that have been publicized the last few years have been for NT based versions of Windows while 9x has been IMMUNE to them? (sasser & blaster are the first 2 to come to mind) So much for NT being 'more secure'.  :P

The NT kernel is a lot more secure than the 9x "kernel", and more stable as well. The security problems come from all the usermode crudd added by the incompetent codemonkeys at MS... it's a shame such a nice kernel is tainted by such lousy code for much of the rest of the OS :)


I thought I was poking fun at it. (reason for the  :P face)

I have been known to make the joke, that if you don't already have all the security software you are going to need in order to safely go get all your updates for 2k/XP, online, then you better install 9x and go get them first.

And while I mean it as a joke, the sad thing is that it's true.

You'd be safer with 9x than running without a firewall & antivirus while you make your way to download an antivirus and real firewall and then hitting Windows Update to download the necessary patches & service packs to protect you.

They say 20 minutes is all that an unprotected copy of 2k/XP needs to end up compromised. I think it's longer for 9x. We can at least get our updates installed without being hit before the download is complete.  :P
5627
app103: i must say that is a very well written reply.

In response to you win9x issues, Since Win98 and WinME have reached their end of lifecycle, there will be no more patches for either OS. This is a good thing, in my eyes, since win9x/me were based on an inferior code base. Security wasnt put into mind when designing these os's. Windows NT/2K/XP were built on an entirely different codebase and as such, had a different goal in mind.

That doesn't mean that suddenly there will be drivers for all my old hardware that will work with an OS other than Win95/98/ME. (as is the case with my P1)

And don't confuse security with stability, which was the major difference between the 2 code bases.(how it handles memory use) The security differences are from the desk chair point of view, as NT allows you to limit what someone sitting in your chair can do. This was to prevent employee tampering. Something you shouldn't have to worry about at home if you supervise your children like you should be doing.

My choice as a home user was influenced by the sales pitch I was given that said that WinME was better for home use than Win2k, because Win2k was meant for business use where people didn't play games. I was even told that Win2k was deliberately made bad for games, in order to discourage people from playing games when they should be working. This was the sales pitch for WinME and ultimately why I ended up with it on my P3, instead of Win2k like my father had on an identical PC bought at the same time as mine. They could have made a bit more money if they told us the truth, as I would have wanted Win2k instead.

And Microsoft knew that the WMF issue needed to be fixed back in January, and they did fix it for an OS that is just as old as my WinME. (Win2k) End of updates wasn't supposed to happen till June. They still owe us this update as far as I am concerned.

And personally I feel as if they owe WinME users, in particular, updates for as long as they are still supplying updates for Win2k, since the ages of both OS's are the same.

And IE 6 users of all versions of Windows... except 9x... will still get their holes patched. That means that they still plan on supporting IE 6. There should be patches for all versions of Windows that IE 6 can possibly be run on till they decide to no longer support it on any version of Windows....like they did with IE 5. They patched that on all Windows versions till they decided not to patch it on any version. They didn't single out anybody based on OS.

WinME users have always been handed the short end of the stick and cheated by Microsoft. If they were not going to give us what we were due, the least they could have done was give us the option of some steep discounts on an upgrade version of Windows that they planned on really supporting or refund us some of the money we shelled out for WinME...a long time ago.

And I know there are plenty of people that would agree with me on that. Plenty of WinME users feel as though that was the OS that should have been the first OS in history to be recalled, like you recall a bad car or dangerous toy or some other seriously defective merchandise.

btw...have you noticed that most of the major exploits that have been publicized the last few years have been for NT based versions of Windows while 9x has been IMMUNE to them? (sasser & blaster are the first 2 to come to mind) So much for NT being 'more secure'.  :P
5628
If you dont want WGA, then you cant use windows update (but you can still get critical updates via auto-update, which microsoft has stated they wont prevent).

They are now forcing WGA for autoupdaters too. You can no longer download automatic updates without receiving WGA as your next update. You can download updates after that even if your pc doesn't pass the test, but you will have nags telling you that your OS isn't 'genuine'. I know quite a few people running pirated versions of XP that have had a problem with this recently. Most rolling back to Win2k or moving to linux because of it. (I guess the nags are working?)

Without WGA installed there are no more updates for any XP users.

My past experiences about a year ago with blocking certain Microsoft IP's has resulted in some odd things...mainly related to receiving updates.

In order to download updates from the Windows Update site, you can't block a specific server that it will do a time check with. You will get an error about your clock being wrong and Windows Update will refuse to work properly.

I thought this was kind of odd, but when I unblocked all Microsoft IP's Windows Update site began working properly again.

I tried to unblock them one at a time to find the right combo but that only fixed the problem temporarily, as they keep changing the server they use for the time check. I had to unblock them all eventually.

I can be the paranoid type sometimes and didn't think my OS needed to phone home without me knowing about it or agreeing to it or knowing what for.

I have come across a few things in the past to justify this blocking behavior. Namely the spyware that used to be included with MSN Messenger that they at first claimed wasn't part of their product, that would reinstall itself every time you ran MSN if you tried to disable it. They have since removed this from MSN. (do some research on the history of the mysterious loadqm.exe)

Also there have been some reports/rumors about the WMF exploit being something deliberately written into the WMF specifications by Microsoft in case they ever needed to use it as a backdoor to force install anything they needed/wanted to on a user's pc...by just displaying a graphic on their site...or as an ad on another site....or by other means of getting you to view the graphic.

The fact that some 9x versions of windows are affected by this and Microsoft refuses to issue an update to fix it before the end of life & end of updates this month kind of bothers me. We have been waiting since January for an official fix. Do they have some nasty stuff planned for 9x users to get them to upgrade against their will? Or are they just being lazy? Or by not patching it, do they think older machines will suddenly be able to run a newer version of windows and they can make some more money? I don't know but I am patched against the problem on my WinME machine despite their lack of fix for it.

Now about IP's....Your IP is like the house number on your front door. Just knowing it doesn't give someone a way in. And hiding it is like trying to take the numbers off your door in order to hide your house. It's silly and can have some negative results. Imagine doing that in real life and then ordering a pizza or calling a taxi.

Everything you do online is tied to your IP. Without it you get no web pages...no antivirus updates, nothing. All servers you connect to from the time you log in online till the time you go offline will get your IP...and even more info...like what operating system you use...or what browser you are using and the version of it. If you don't like it, the only solution is to pull the plug on your connection and not have an IP.

There are the paranoid types that think knowing someone's IP means they can crack into your computer. It's not as simple as that. It would be like saying that your house can get robbed if you put a number on the front door and keep the place securely locked but by removing it and leaving the front door unlocked it will somehow save you from being robbed. (It's not the house number that is the problem here.)

But everyday I saw people in my chatroom that were very paranoid about others knowing their IP. We openly displayed it when you entered the room for the purposes of being able to block gross misbehavers and identify impersonators of people we know....and to be able to report peddlers of child pornography to the proper authorities (yes we have seen a few of these in the room)

I have also seen some idiots trying to scare people with the "I got your IP" line, perpetuating that kind of paranoia. So much that I started displaying mine as part of my username in the room just to prove a point. I think quite a few of my admins did too to prove the same point. (one of the guys in the room displayed 127.0.0.1 as part of his username for many years as a joke about us doing it, even after we stopped). We all did notice one strange effect by displaying our IP's so openly...we all got fewer port scans showing up in our firewall logs. :huh:
5629
This looks nice.

http://eyesore.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

  • Countdown in days until the start of the world cup.
  • You can still use the program once the World Cup has started!
  • Every single participant, all 32 teams.
  • Match Calendar for both single group matches and all group matches.
  • Match reminders an hour before the match starts, enough time to finish what you're doing and get you're seat! Or run down the local pub (What ever you prefer).
  • An hour before the match, you will have a countdown and some match information. In the future there may be an update so you can see the player sheet of who's playing.
  • Auto completion of the team names, can't spell “Trinidad and Tobago” or “Czech Republic”. Then turn on “Auto Complete” and just type the first few letters.
  • Suggestions to save you're valuable time, more shouting at the referee and less typing!
  • Shell icon so you can hide and show the bar whenever you need it!
  • The bar will always stay on top, but it's small enough to not be intrusive. It's also stylish enough that you won't need to hide it, not that you could move it off the side off the screen. It has "off-screen protection".
  • Run the program on start up automatically.



alternate download site if you can't get developer's site to load:

http://www.techtree....73738&cat_id=655
5630
Screenshot Captor / Re: Frames & Edges
« Last post by app103 on June 09, 2006, 09:40 AM »
it's possible the application you pasted the image into doesn't support .png transparencies, if you can see the bottom right corner.
5631
General Software Discussion / Re: programmes that use little system resources.
« Last post by app103 on June 09, 2006, 06:54 AM »
Software that ran quite well on my old slow pc (only 64mb of ram on it running WinME so should be very similar to his/hers, if not worse)...

The lack of a real task manager in 9x makes this a necessity: Process Explorer

I have a combo of a particular firewall and browser that I used. I wouldn't suggest using my favorite light browser I am going to name without this particular firewall. Get a copy of Zone Alarm Pro 4 firewall...not the most recent version...make sure it's version 4. And pay for the Pro, as the free one will not offer the feature you need to protect yourself. You are going to need a firewall any way. Make sure you have the script blocking in it turned on to prevent pop-ups & spyware. It is quite effective. If you don't pay for Pro, it will revert to the free version after the trial period is over and those features will not be available.

Then you can 'safely' use a browser that I wrote just for using on my old slow pc:

dIE (damn IE) :P

Please read the warnings & info on the page before deciding if you really want to use it. I am not going to lie to you...it has issues and isn't the best choice for a browser...but it's fast and uses less ram than anything else you are going to find.

If you decide against using it, I can offer 2 suggestions:

Internet Explorer...watch out how many windows you have open at one time and install the Google toolbar to prevent pop-ups. If you use the Zone Alarm Pro I suggested you won't have to worry about the automatic spyware installers or popups...it blocks them pretty good when using Internet Explorer based browsers.

Firefox...use standard install...keep the extensions you install to a minimum...the more extensions you install the more resources it will use and the slower it will become. Also, just like with Internet Explorer, be careful how many pages you have open at one time, although you can actually have more open with Firefox than with Internet Explorer. And make sure you close and restart Firefox every once in awhile...like at least once per hour or it will eat up all system resources and the pc will drag slower than a constipated snail.


I have never tried Opera on my old pc so I can't say anything good or bad about it.

For general use by the average user though, I would go with Firefox and make sure you install the Flashblock extension. This is a MUST. The reason is because 2 or more flash objects on a page can make an old pc freeze and require you to hit the reset button and wait forever while it boots up again. That extension will prevent that from happening most of the time. And with how many sites are loaded with multiple flash ads, you can understand why I say this. This would be my primary reason for picking Firefox over all other browsers for use on an old pc.

Your choice of AVG for an antivirus is a good one...it was my choice and I have never regretted switching to it. It's the only one I found that runs in the background and doesn't affect how my system runs and allows me to forget it's running...which to me is what a good antivirus should do. If it interferes with normal use of your computer you will end up wanting to shut it off...and that's when problems with viruses usually happen. Too often this is why people get infected with crap. The antivirus causes problems and they shut it off and leave themselves unprotected.

For document writing software I just used the standard Wordpad that came with Windows for most things...but I am also lucky enough to have a copy of MS Office 97 for when I need something heavier than that. It's great for older computers since it was released when those computers were new.

Or you could try 602Pro PC Suite. It's lighter than MS Office and even Open Office. Unfortunately they no longer have the scaled down free version they used to, but you can try the trial to see if you like it before buying. The previous version's word processor reminded me very much of Word 97.

You might also want to take a look around OldVersion.com for some older stuff that might run better than the most recent versions. But be careful and do your homework if you do. Many older versions of software can be dangerous with unpatched security vulnerabilities in them. Google can be your best friend.

Adobe Acrobat 6 can be made a lot lighter by removing some of the unnecessary plugins.

If you have any other questions about specific types of software categories, feel free to ask and I will be more than happy to offer suggestions based on my experiences with running things on an older slower pc.
5632
Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Other Borland Developer Studio Languages?
« Last post by app103 on June 09, 2006, 02:01 AM »
If you can get a copy of Delphi 4 in 21 Days, near the very end there is a whole chapter about translating Delphi projects to be C++ Builder projects. It goes through step by step with what you have to do...and I have successfully translated one of my projects following it.

If I do enter this competition, it will be with something I will create in Delphi first and then translate to C++ Builder, following that book's guide.
5633
Living Room / Re: SPAM reaching epidemic proportions
« Last post by app103 on June 09, 2006, 01:47 AM »
The trouble with the 'real human' test is that it would kill email newsletters - how would you fancy manually verifying every DC newsletter that is posted ?
-Carol Haynes (June 08, 2006, 05:33 AM)

I used to use Choicemail One, which required people that sent you mail to 'register' with you and wait to be approved. (you can also turn that feature off and still get fantastic spam blocking)

It also allowed you to manually approve addresses & domains and keep them out of the filter.

It did work quite well and none of my mailing lists I am subscribed to ever got an email asking them to register and none of my newsletters or lists were ever trapped by it, not even ones where the mail can come from many unknown senders, such as Topica lists.

The only problem I ever really had with it was the fact that mail I sent out to others was proxied through Choicemail One's Izzymail servers and ended up being caught in other people's spam filters, even though I was approved by the recipients already.

The only reason I ever used Choicemail One in the first place wasn't for spam reduction. It was the only known way, at the time, to get and send email outside of the proprietary software required by my ISP. It also transforms some webmail like Yahoo and Hotmail into pop3 without the need of paying for a pop3 account. They have since changed the rules at my ISP and I have ditched the software since it's no longer needed to do what I want.

I have since found out that there is a Choicemail Free. It has less features than Choicemail One and can only be used with a single email account, but that might be all someone really needs and of course the price is nice (free).

Some people can get around the single email address restriction by forwarding all mail from one account to another, like Gmail users can. Then you just download it all from the one account and therefore only be using one email address with it. But all mail you send out will come from the one address you download the mail from and not your others. Might not be the best idea but if you have accounts that you recieve only with and not send mail, it's a thought to consider.
5634
General Software Discussion / Re: Flashget is now freeware
« Last post by app103 on June 08, 2006, 02:25 AM »
let me know if it's safe to upgrade...I am still running a pre-1.0 version that is so old that it doesn't have ads any more...and it never had the spyware in it.

I have always loved flashget.
5635
Developer's Corner / Why software sucks (and what to do about it)
« Last post by app103 on June 08, 2006, 01:15 AM »
http://www.scottberk...m/essays/essay46.htm

No one makes bad software on purpose. No benevolent programmer has ever sat down, planning out weeks of work, with the intention of frustrating people and making them cry. Bad software, or bad anything, happens because making things is hard, making good things doubly so.
5636
Living Room / Re: How long will it take you to adopt Windows Vista as your OS?
« Last post by app103 on June 07, 2006, 11:59 AM »
I probably won't upgrade to Vista until XP has hit end of life and will no longer receive security updates....about 5-6 years after Vista is released for general use.

I still have 9x on my other pc and only recently finally got XP...and only because I have a new pc that came with it.

And the thing I hated most with XP out of the box is that childish look it has with XP themes. I have it set to use the classic 9x look...I like it much better and think it's much more attractive. I will NOT be upgrading for silly eye candy.

I will have to be FORCED to upgrade...like I was forced into XP.

and as far as Office forcing me...not gonna happen...I still have and use Office 97....and an older full version of 602Pro PC Suite...and Open Office is a viable alternative.  ;D
5637
According to this page, it can be done with a VBScript...but chances are it would have to be written specifically for your situation.

http://www.mjtnet.com/webrecorder.htm
5638
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA : Create your own Tool Tips
« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2006, 08:30 AM »
omg...this would be great!

no more repeating myself over & over doing tech support...just send them the file to match the prob and it will walk them through the solution.

I know a bunch of people working on 'Operation PIE' that would kiss the developer that makes it possible.

We could put the files on the website right into a FAQ page.

Awesome!
5639
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: disable all taskbar button flashing
« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2006, 07:34 AM »
I think i might have one possible solution: TaskbarEX.

At first I thought this could be a solution...but then discovered it doesn't work well with IM managers. Moving the button off the taskbar and then switching tabs in the manager results in the taskbar button returning...and still a desktop button too. You could end up with a ton of desktop buttons...one for each person you have in the IM manager...and the taskbar button as soon as you switch tabs in the manager...and it won't let you drag a person more than once off the taskbar.

Still a really cool little proggie though. Might keep it for other reasons/uses.
5640
Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?
« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2006, 05:29 AM »
This is a Jornada 540...old but quite useful. (keyboard sold separately but I have that too...full sized and folds up to same size as the Jornada.)

I love reading ebooks on it and prefer it for that use over reading them on the desktop.

I also have 2 cellular modems for it that double as extra battery life. You can probably find one of these on ebay dirt cheap, if you are the kind that likes ebay.


It runs WinCE 3.0.

It has a web browser (Pocket IE), Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, email software, MSN, AIM, Yahoo, calculator, address book, very nice scheduling calendar with alarms, the famous solitaire game, Windows Media Player, MS Reader, and other stuff too.

This Jornada used to belong to my dad. It stored in a custom protective case made from leather covered sheet metal, lined with satin covered foam. If you dropped the case, it will NOT end up broken.  Once he was pushed down and fell in a subway station in NYC, with this in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, landing with his full body weight on it. The Jornada didn't break...not a scratch on it from the incident, but he did have some really nasty bruises on his ribs from landing on the case.

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/7229/jornada5403hp.jpg

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/7468/keyboardfolding7hm.jpg


5641
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: disable all taskbar button flashing
« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2006, 02:33 AM »
your taskbar is huge, would you like to consider using Free Launch Bar or TrueLaunchBar so that you can put all the frequently access applications in a folder, like this:

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/707/tlb6jr.jpg


I like my taskbar just how it is. I have always had a taskbar like this since day 1 of being a Windows user. It's a technique I inherited from my dad. He thinks it's more 'mentally ergonomic' than the default position & style of doing things. I wouldn't have it any other way and I get lost on pc's that don't have it my way.

It's quite organized. And I don't have to open folders to get to my shortcuts...or navagate through my start menu.

What you see is not the normal quicklaunch you usually see on the taskbar in Windows. I closed that.

Each line on my taskbar is a toolbar for a specific type of shortcut. They are all in folders that I add as toolbars. If there are too many on a line there is a tiny bar button that will show a menu for the others, or just slide the seperator bar to see the rest, which is what I prefer doing. There are much more icons there than you see in the screenshot! The most used in each group is on the top line. 

For example...the first toolbar/line you see is all my drives on this pc and a few other related things. Next bar is folders containing the contents of every drive I copied from 2 other computers. Next is system related tools. I have bars related to multimedia, art, communications, programming & web design, games, etc.

Also, the taskbar buttons for open windows are easier to identify when more text is showing on them than you would get with a smaller taskbar. So even if I had no shortcuts at all on it, I would still keep it that size.

I have this on autohide so it's not like this is sticking out like that during normal use. It should only be seen when I make it pop out by hitting the right side of my screen with my mouse. It gives me more screen space to work with when it's hidden.

I hate using the start menu and have even avoided the use of it for shutting down my pc or rebooting on my other computer by having shortcuts to do that job....on my taskbar. And I hate desktop icons...not convienient to have to minimize any windows to see the desktop when I could just move my mouse to the right and accomplish the same thing with my taskbar.
5642
I have a very nice older copy of 3m post-it software notes...but that's a pain in my butt and I don't remember to look at them.

At least with the real paper ones I can stick them places that will catch my attention...like on my microwave...or my alarm clock next to my bed.

And the wall calendar is my daughter's domain...she is better than an alarm you set.
5643
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: disable all taskbar button flashing
« Last post by app103 on June 04, 2006, 08:28 PM »
I am not sure what you did but it totally broke the prog.

Taskbar fading is kind of broken. It doesn't pay attention to a 255 when mouse inside...keeps it at 200.

or the fade-in time is messed up...not changing from faded to solid when active. I had that set at 10 for both in & out

additionally...the new feature...maybe I am missing something but I couldn't get my taskbar back after activating that...even windows key didn't bring it back...just gave me start menu with no taskbar.

Not sure what settings it should be in what box to make it act normal when I hit the side of my screen with my mouse.

tried -1...no good...tried -10...no good

even killing the app in taskmanager didn't bring back my taskbar...had to log off and back on again.

might want to roll back to previous version till you can get this sorted out.
5644
i use post-it notes and a traditional wall calendar  :-[
5645
A bunch of nasty vulnerabilities reported by CERT:

http://www.us-cert.g...lerts/TA06-153A.html

Upgrade to:

Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.4
Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.4
SeaMonkey 1.0.2
5646
Living Room / I am in love with this wallpaper concept
« Last post by app103 on June 03, 2006, 01:49 AM »
I came across this page awhile back and just found it again in my junkbox while looking for something else.

I still love the idea.

http://www.flickr.co...s/w00kie/sets/180637

This is one-of-a-kind stuff...desktop wallpaper unlike anybody else's...totally unique and dependant on the particular desktop it sits on.

I am going to do this sooner or later.  :D
(or at least try)
5647
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: disable all taskbar button flashing
« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2006, 11:57 PM »
Ok...I tried the Taskbar Activate program skrommel suggested, and either I am missing something or it didn't work.

Either way I still have the problem.

Maybe I didn't explain the problem right?

Here is a screenshot of my desktop with the taskbar showing...which it only shows when I make it show...or when the taskbar buttons flash for some reason.

http://img354.images...4351/desktop48gh.png

I am trying to make it stop showing automatically when taskbar buttons flash...by disabling the flashing.

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of what would possibly have to be done, but I don't have the skills needed to make this tool myself...yet...and I don't want to wait till my next OS to fix it. (3-5 yrs?)

If anybody wants to try to make this I will share what he gave me. He gave me a lot of info links and some ideas as how it would have to be done. Something like a .dll to drop into the folders of offending programs that would take care of it.

He can't make it for me himself, as he's not on windows any more.

He said he had started doing some work on a tool like this awhile back. He may even be willing to share what he has done so far with anyone that may want to finish the job.
5648
Living Room / Re: Structured Procrastination - hahaha
« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2006, 07:39 AM »

Note: posting to donation coder counts as BAD procrastination :D

But it's healthy to have a social life...and for some of us, our online activities are about as close as we get to having a copy of life.exe. So post away...it's good for you....and me.  ;)

And for some of us, that idea for the next big project might come from something someone posted here.

btw...great article...I'll feel less guilty for not doing housework now.  :P
5649
ContextMenu Commander / Re: ContextMenu Commander
« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2006, 05:05 AM »
I have an idea for this one...convert to .jpg...or .bmp...or png...or whatever.

I have need for all 3...and on the context menu would save a lot of time...as long as the compression for jpg is very light. I don't want picture quality compromised too much.

Also converting to 256 color .bmp would save me time with making icons.

And rather than replacing the current file, make sure it creates a new file.
5650
Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: WinCovers
« Last post by app103 on June 01, 2006, 07:07 PM »
anyone want to recommend a better image uploader site for uncle john;
alternatively john you can just upload and attach images to posts.

http://www.imageshack.us

You don't need an account and they have a tool that will put the option to upload an image right on the context menu of explorer, if you would like that better (I do).
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