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6126

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 09:04 PM »

For one computer I don't see the need.  If you are a sysadmin with a computer farm to manage then something like that may be a good tool.  What is the obsession with nano-seconds to boot? If it comes up clean so I can get a coffee that's what matters to me.  If you have to keep reconfiguring stuff or installing stuff and you end up in a rebooting cycle all day then I can see it.

For one computer what's so difficult about using a stop watch?  Unless it takes so long you fall asleep and forget to stop the watch?

-MilesAhead (May 05, 2010, 02:43 PM)

  Maybe make sure you take a few gulps of that coffee before turning on the machine.

-sajman99 (May 05, 2010, 03:12 PM)

Either that or leave the volume maxed so the logon welcome wakes me up.

6127

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: reopen recently opened explorer windows, history, MRU

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 02:58 PM »

btw when I first started doing an app to monitor explorer windows opening I tried several approaches.  I messed around with monitoring or hooking as they say, ShellExecute to detect every time an explorer window was opened.  It's not as straight-forward as it seems from the docs.  Also it's an invasive approach. If your code gets called every time something is executed on the system and you have a bug, you can mess up the smooth operation of the machine.

OTOH, periodically checking what the active window is, is a more passive approach. If you do it  too often, you take a performance hit, but that's about it. It's not the type of thing that risks crashing the shell. I messed around with the frequency of the active window checking on both my machines and got an idea where to tune it to minimize the CPU usage while still detecting most of what I needed to catch.  It's just a little utility after all, not something hooked into the file system like Everything Search is.

6128

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 02:46 PM »

Well, I think that will be difficult to realy calculate the booting time with a stop watch, in my opinion an accurate numbre can be obtained only with a good software. Since some can also keep a log file so that one can look deeper for configuration.

-ha14 (May 05, 2010, 01:33 PM)

You're likely correct that software would provide a more precise measurement of boot time, but hey--a stopwatch works OK for me.

But I guess I'm just cheap. I mean, I can't really see paying for software to tell me my stopwatch was off by a few seconds.

-sajman99 (May 05, 2010, 02:41 PM)

Plus if you really want to save a buck you can say "One Mississippi, ..."
Funny but when I was a kid there was some stupid commercial where they had
a close up of this guy pressing a stop watch and then stopping it after exactly
one second.  After seeing that commercial a zillion times I could imagine that
watch ticking and visualize a 1 second interval pretty well. I could get up to
about 10 seconds dead nuts.  Weird.

6129

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 02:43 PM »

For one computer I don't see the need.  If you are a sysadmin with a computer farm to manage then something like that may be a good tool.  What is the obsession with nano-seconds to boot? If it comes up clean so I can get a coffee that's what matters to me.  If you have to keep reconfiguring stuff or installing stuff and you end up in a rebooting cycle all day then I can see it.

For one computer what's so difficult about using a stop watch?  Unless it takes so long you fall asleep and forget to stop the watch?

6130

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: reopen recently opened explorer windows, history, MRU

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 01:27 PM »

Do you know if it works on 64 bit versions of Windows?  It doesn't mention 64 bit on the product page.

Assuming it does you could come up with a kludge to add the output to FolderCache.txt.
Only thing is the entries from the file are pushing into the stack of folders from the last line in the file to the first, since it's assumed the first line in the file is the most recent folder.

Instead of just appending your info to the end of FolderCache.txt you would want to format your output to look like the entries in FolderCache.txt, then append FolderCache.txt onto your file, then replace FolderCache.txt with your file.  Also you need to make sure FolderCache is not running while you do this since it rewrites the FolderCache.txt on closing.

A few lines of batch should do it depending on what you have to do to format the output of the ShellBagsView.  By having your lines first in the FolderCache.txt file they won't be discarded because the stack has reached its limit.  They will be the last entries pushed on.

edit: looking at the output I don't see what the information is.  It shows the root of the folder opened for all I can see.  A bunch of C:  X: F: with no particular folder info.. unless something escapes me.


edit2: Sifting through registry mish mash, esp. 32 vs 64 bit is not my thing.  That's why I do the active window in the first place.  If you can some up with something yourself I'd be curious to see it though.

6131

General Software Discussion / Re: Welcome, come back in a year

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 05, 2010, 07:23 AM »

-cranioscopical (May 04, 2010, 09:43 PM)

“Do not fear bad puns. There are none."
- Miles Davis

Or something like that.

-Deozaan (May 05, 2010, 04:30 AM)

6132

General Software Discussion / Re: Welcome, come back in a year

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 06:58 PM »

it's probably also worth mentioning in this thread that there are ways to get a non-expiring license key immediately without donating.. i send non-expiring permanent license keys to anyone who emails and let's me know that they are: doing volunteer work, are involved in freeware coding, would rather donate to a local charity, or just have given it some thought but decided that they can't or won't donate.  we're not trying to punish anyone for not donating -- we're just trying to get people to pause for a few seconds and at least seriously consider the idea of making a donation to support the site.

-mouser (May 04, 2010, 05:38 PM)

I propose another category be appended for those who can withstand the bad puns.
They deserve to be rewarded too.

6133

Site/Forum Features / Re: Discussion: How can we Improve DonationCoder?

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 06:52 PM »

so from my standpoint i think maybe the best bang for the buck in terms of improving site organization is to leave the forum as it is -- and just focus on making the rest of the non-forum website pages on DonationCoder.com better in terms of exposing the rest of the content on the site, and making it easier to maintain those pages.

-mouser (May 04, 2010, 01:32 AM)

 
 

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (May 04, 2010, 12:46 PM)

+1

6134

Living Room / Re: KVM switch woes -- any recommendations?

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 06:48 PM »

Thanks to all for all the suggestions and insight. Now I have to decide.

-daddydave (May 04, 2010, 12:11 PM)

The only kvma switch I ever bought is the one I'm using now.  It's a Belkin for 2 PCs. It's been very reliable.  The thing is I stay with PS/2 keyboard and mouse and VGA connector for video.  I know, the thing's ancient.. but it's been working for me all this time. I have my speakers plugged into it too. Only real drawback other than hotkeying back and forth is I can't use my PC as a jukebox since the sound will switch when I switch machines. Eventually they'll probably stop making PCs with VGA connectors.  That's one reason I got this HP quad core.  The video card has 3 outputs, one of which is VGA. I'm still using a Gateway VX900 CRT.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  

I think I paid $6.95 at Best Buy for this switch.  Got my moneys worth.  The one thing though it did take me awhile to catch on that the "right hand side" was like the master side. If I install a new PC on the left hand side, I have to boot the PC on the right to initialize it first, or the startup won't recognize the keyboard.

6135

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: reopen recently opened explorer windows, history, MRU

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 06:37 PM »

btw you may want to try ReOpen instead.  I find sometimes I type a substring in the input filter and I don't get a result in the folder list, but sometimes a recent program that lives in that folder is still in the program list.  Then I can highlight it, press Alt Left Click to paste it into the input line.  Once there I can backspace out the program part to get the folder.

I also cheat by using Everything Search.  If I type in a folder name and come up dry, then I hit ^c to kick off the hotkey search, which I have set to open Everything Search... then the contents of the input filter edit line are sent as a macro.

6136

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: reopen recently opened explorer windows, history, MRU

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 06:29 PM »

He he, MilesAhead, I confess I have been a FolderCache user for a bit

-ewemoa (May 04, 2010, 06:02 PM)

Oh, so you're the other guy!!  I knew of one person using it.  Nice to know a few people find it useful.

6137

General Software Discussion / Re: XML editor

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 12:24 PM »

@ewemoa

If you are looking for a portable xml editor then have a look at Firstobject XML Editor

-PhilB66 (May 04, 2010, 03:21 AM)

This looks good for my light usage.

6138

General Software Discussion / Re: XML editor

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 12:11 PM »

Thanks for posting this, MilesAhead.

Some initial notes:

  Source appears available.
  A bit on the large side, but Universal Extractor seems to handle this one ok too.
  Some registry-writing for this one, but that may be because it is using Qt.
  Mmm, Python (console) and plugins
  Seems fairly speedy, though the help seems a bit heavy.

Seems like fun for hackers  

-ewemoa (May 04, 2010, 01:39 AM)

Sounds good. I'll try it out.

edit: whoa, for 225 MB installed it's a bit more than I need.

edit2: At this point I'm just looking for a means to change program options
without having the use text editor search and F3 over and over.  I don't need
to create xml docs at the present time.

6139

General Software Discussion / Re: XML editor

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 01:08 AM »

I downloaded this one today, since I saw this thread and decided to search:

http://www.syntext.c...products/serna-free/

I haven't tried it yet though.  Just looked handy to have.

6140

General Software Discussion / Re: Toggle2 v. 1.7

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 04, 2010, 01:05 AM »

is Toggle2 an update from plain Toggle or is it a separate program?

-lanux128 (May 03, 2010, 10:52 PM)

They're 2 different programs.
Toggle is still available for download but I've focused on Toggle2 since it's more versatile.

You can download both here:
http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

6141

General Software Discussion / Re: Toggle2 v. 1.7

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 03, 2010, 04:25 PM »

Toggle2 v. 1.7

Fixed a few Tray Menu and "single instance" control glitches.
Recompiled without compression to avoid av false positives.

No new features.  Just doesn't put check marks on menu items
that aren't supposed to have them. Tray Menu only opens on
Right Click so that double-clicking the icon doesn't give off
"tray menu flash" from the menu popping up for a fraction
of a second.

Latest version is now on the Hotkeys page.

6142

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 02, 2010, 11:56 AM »

Hi

I contacted  BootRacer sotmaker and replied as fiollow

Timeout for choosing operational system is hard to evaluate.
You can change the timeout to 0 by editing "boot.ini".

Hope this info will help

-ha14 (May 02, 2010, 03:32 AM)

What I do is sit and watch.  When the boot menu comes up I hit Enter to avoid the wait. Or you can just subtract the setting you have.  I use an 8 second delay. If Bootspeed says 78 seconds then I know it's 70.

6143

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: reopen recently opened explorer windows, history, MRU

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 02, 2010, 11:52 AM »

Since my posts on this thread I've authored 2 Hotkey type apps for this purpose.

1 just monitors folders(FolderCache), the other folders and programs(ReOpen.)

Yes they monitor the active window, but the monitoring is very cheap.
Usually task manager shows them below 1% CPU usage.

In fact I've just made improvements to both that haven't showed up on
Softpedia yet since it's the weekend.  You can download the latest of
both from my hotkeys page:

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

I just added F1 help to both while the Popup Window is showing.  By default F1 displays
the Readme file, but if you have TreePad Lite 3 or higher installed, it shows a
TreePad help file.  The TreePad file is much easier to navigate and better organized.

Here's a screen shot of the TreePad Help for ReOpen:

6144

General Software Discussion / Re: ReOpen 4.2

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 01, 2010, 08:28 PM »

ReOpen v. 4.2

F1 Help is now available while the Popup Window is open.
TreePad Lite 3 or higher is required.  If the TreePad format
help file is not found or TreePad is not installed, it reverts
to displaying the Readme.

http://www.treepad.com/treepadfreeware/

edit: I've updated the Readme so that it is analogous to the
TreePad help.  Same info in both.  The Readme also has
revision history at the bottom.

edit2: btw there's also a TreePad Reader program that's free and it's
allowed to distribute it with TreePad files.  But since TreePad Lite
is not made to handle graphics it snaps open much faster. it's also
free and generally useful to have other than reading my utility
help files.

For instance I started this little Tips tree file but I keep forgetting
to add tips.

6145

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 01, 2010, 07:55 PM »

I realize that.  But the VB script is good for those who don't want to install an application just to time their boots.  Plus by definition you have the source code.

It's just an alternative. I don't say don't use the first utility if you like it.

6146

General Software Discussion / Re: FolderCache 4.2

« Last post by MilesAhead on May 01, 2010, 02:46 PM »

FolderCache 4.2

Added F1 Help while Popup Window is displayed.
(requires TreePad Lite 3 or higher)

edit: If the TreePad format help file is not found or TreePad is not installed,
F1 falls back to trying to display the Readme file(file version 4.2.0.2)

edit2: I've updated the Readme so that it is analogous to the
TreePad help.  Same info in both.  The Readme also has
revision history at the bottom.

6147

General Software Discussion / Re: ReOpen 4.1

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 30, 2010, 09:37 PM »

ReOpen v. 4.1

In addition to using the "visit hotkey page" command in the Tray Menu, now
in ReOpen all you have to do is put the pipe character('|') by itself in
the Edit Line and hit Enter. Default browser will be opened to FavesSoft
hotkey page. If anything follows the pipe on the line, it will be assumed to
be a URL and an attempt will be made to open default browser to that page
(e.g. entering: |www.donationcoder.com should browse to this site)

6148

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 30, 2010, 09:27 PM »

Hmmmmm, I don't know if it's coincidence or the fact that BootSpeed puts that run-once entry in the Registry, but it seems like every time I go to time my warm boot using it, shutdown takes twice as long as normal(subjectively seems that way anyway.)

But Curt, if you use BootSpeed that's all it times is a warm boot. It sticks the entry in run once and stores the timer tick, then subtracts the timer tick from the current one when it opens on reboot. I haven't really looked at the code to see if it accounts for passing midnight or any of that. But the time is measured from the moment you click it until it comes up after the warm boot.

6149

General Software Discussion / Re: FolderCache 4.1

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 30, 2010, 09:23 PM »

FolderCache 4.1

In addition to using the "visit hotkey page" command in the Tray Menu, now
in FolderCache all you have to do is put the pipe character('|') by itself in
the Edit Line and hit Enter. Default browser will be opened to FavesSoft
hotkey page. If anything follows the pipe on the line, it will be assumed to
be a URL and an attempt will be made to open default browser to that page
(e.g. entering: |www.donationcoder.com should browse to this site)

6150

General Software Discussion / Re: BootRacer-Check Your Boot Speed

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 30, 2010, 04:35 PM »

You can get a VB script that shows the reboot time from this tutorial:

http://www.vistax64....19-boot-up-time.html

It doesn't have options like the software that must be installed. Just uses
the Run Once key and checks the timer tick.

If you have very high reboot times and trimming down the autostart stuff doesn't help you can also turn on boot logging.  Sometimes the computer times out waiting to load a driver that's no longer on the system.  That can add 10 or 20 seconds onto your boot time whereas a crowded startup folder only adds a few seconds on a fast machine with a fast HD.

When I first got my quad core I used PC decrapifier to clean off the unwanted-ware.  Unfortunately the uninstall doesn't always clean out Registry settings that try to load drivers that, after the uninstall, no longer exist. I had
to download "cleanup tools" to get rid of all the remnants.