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6251

General Software Discussion / Re: Opera 10

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 03, 2010, 01:27 PM »

btw afa the AutoCopy in Opera goes.. the best of both worlds is the way it's done in ClickCutter AutoCopy AddOn for Firefox.  If you select with the mouse and hold down the mouse button for the trigger duration, a little (c) pops up to let you know it was copied to the clipboard.

I found it too difficult to tune the duration so that I could easily avoid the copy with the mouse. But I found that if you select with the keyboard, it does not try to autocopy.  If you want to select text with no chance of it autocopying, just use the keyboard.  It really works well.  I find if I'm off by one character I just keep moving the mouse and it periodically updates showing the (c) so you know when you have exactly the portion of the line you want in the clipboard.  Very nice.

Something like that should eliminate the paranoia for those who hate to autocopy  by accident.

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Developer's Corner / Re: Release the source without the program being open source

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 06:49 PM »

An approach you could take is to post your code in the Example Scripts forum for AutoIt3:

http://www.autoitscr...16f5&showforum=9

Source code is optional when posting your program. You can search or ask around on the forum for more info. If you do post source, others are likely to suggest improvements or build on your code.  But you have a record of the version you posted.  I guess that's one way of defacto copyrighting your code.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 04:41 PM »

That would be good news.  I don't have the reference to the page anymore but there was in an Egg customer review this big write-up why to use FedEx ground rather than UPS.  A system builder guy who is a mod on another board swears it's true about the DOA with UPS.  Supposedly in the conveyor system they use there's a 6 foot drop at one point.  According to the system builder mod the "head slap" from the drop is what kills the drive.  Apparently even good padding can't guard against it.  Non UPS shipments seems to increase the chances of getting a functional drive.

Trouble with a lot of these online stores is they want you to ship the thing back and pay a restocking fee even if the thing was broken when they put it in the box.  With return policies like that I keep my purchases under $100.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insta-switch file dialog to any Explorer window's path (code included)

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 03:36 PM »

Doesn't Skrommel have something that watch's windows and places/sizes them accordingly?

-AndyM (April 02, 2010, 03:19 PM)

I think in this case, unless he has a macro to click the Browse Folders button, you'd have to whip up something.  I could probably throw something together in AutoIt3 but I'm curious why Windows doesn't remember it on its own.

Anyway koomi, sorry to hijack your thread.
I'm thinking instead of having an open Explorer window, how 'bout a Top 5 used folders that you could just zap into the dialog as current location?  Or is there a reason to switch as in swap source/destination?

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insta-switch file dialog to any Explorer window's path (code included)

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 01:06 PM »

I played around with Direct Folders a little bit. These dialog add-ons are interesting.  But what I could really use, is some small monitor that forces file save dialogs to open with Browse Folders extended sufficiently that I don't have to hit the button or resize the dialog with the mouse.  Seems like especially Firefox loves to drive me nuts with this on downloads. It pops up the file save collapsed and I have to mouse it 3 or 4 times a day.

Seems like the size and state won't stick.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: New MakeMKV beta

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

btw the author keeps posting temporary registration keys on the site.  He has promised free use of the program as long as it is in beta. You can get the latest key here:

http://www.makemkv.c...c.php?f=5&t=1053

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General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 8 Requests

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 12:57 PM »

Windows 7 never forces me to reboot. Windows Updates that require a reboot will tell me I need to reboot, but just have a nag popup I can "dismiss" for up to 4 hours at a time.

My biggest complaint recently is the dismal file transfer speeds. It takes forever to copy/move files from one place to another! It shouldn't take 2 minutes to copy 50MB!

-Deozaan (April 02, 2010, 02:58 AM)

Is it only file copy? Anything that poor I would run some disk diagnostics.  If you find it's due to retries you may have a defective drive.  Even Vista preSP1 was nowhere near that bad.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 12:52 PM »

I did get one of my 750s from SuperMediaStore.  The standard shipping is FedEx ground.  And at the time at least, the box came with large foam blocks cut in the shape of the drive, with the drive in an anti-static bag.  No cable.  But for my purpose, swapping with docs, it was fine.  The box makes for decent storage.  (But I have to look into those plastic drive cases.  That looks like the way to store 'em.) Price is a bit high.  I looked around their site and it looks like they haven't moved up to the Caviar Black 64 MB cache models(6 Gb/s) yet.  Just 32 MB.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 12:56 AM »

Mind you, rather like (I suspect) many members here, the fact that I do not need something doesn't necessarily quench the urge to own it.

-cranioscopical (April 01, 2010, 05:45 PM)

I hear you.  I think some people would rather drive with a "Suicide Knob" than have rack & pinion steering!  If only I could get one with snow flakes spinnin' around inside!!

edit: btw it's after 2:00 AM here.  Guess I'm gettin' silly.  Better log off.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 02, 2010, 12:53 AM »

I have to admit, the Caviar Black I have in the dock is running much cooler with the auto spin down. So far I like this thing. It's always nice when you get something and it performs a bit better than you expect instead of the other way around.

I ordered a second unit since I couldn't find the "toaster" model with the dual drive slots at any online store in the U.S.  I've got 2 USB 3.0 ports.  Might as well use 'em both.

Also got one of those new Caviar Black 640 GB with the 64 MB cache.  The spec for it says max sustained throughput is 126 MB/sec.  I'm curious how it will do in the dock.  Anyway, since I mentioned it, I did find a deal on that too!!  Drive shipped FedEx ground for $77.05.  About $10 is shipping so that may vary with your location but not by much.

http://www.excaliber...lack-wd6402aaex.html

I never tried Excaliberpc before.  But it seems worth a gamble.  I found some good reviews online and didn't notice any horror stories.  Egg has a good price on the same drive but they stick drives in bubble pack, toss 'em in a box, and ship UPS ground.  I've heard the terms UPS and DOA in the same sentence too often to risk it.  I did Egg for one of my drives and just paid the extra to ship FedEx ground.

I'm thinking maybe I should get some of those plastic drive protector thingies instead of putting them in the anti-static bag in the box when not in use.  It's always a pita to get the damn drive in that bag!

Do you guys have any standard doodads for such use that are quite cheap?

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 01, 2010, 04:15 PM »

Thanks for posting your info, MilesAhead!
I noticed a week or so back that WD offers a drive+USB 3.0 card combination.

-cranioscopical (April 01, 2010, 11:21 AM)

Yes, they are coming on now.  I wonder when the USB 2.0 dumping will start?

It's really making a nice difference not having to output to the same physical drive that is reading the input.  It feels like I have a faster machine already.

I did a MakeMKV rip from HD and I got nearly 100 MB/s rather than the usual 40 or 50.  Really smooth!

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Found Deals and Discounts / Sharkoon USB 3.0 QuickPort Dock

« Last post by MilesAhead on April 01, 2010, 10:43 AM »

I took the USB 3.0 plunge.  This can be a good solution for those with off the shelf PCs where adding an internal HD is not so easy. Or you may just want to have USB 3.0 for the future. If you have a PCIx1 Express slot free and can deal with opening the side panel and inserting a card, this is probably the way to go.

I added an SIIG USB 3.0 card.  This is the model:

http://www.newegg.co...5150161&Tpk=siig usb 3.0 card

Note: At the time I bought it, it was a better deal at $39.99 with free shipping.

The Sharkoon USB 3.0 docking station is the current deal.  $52.99 with free shipping:

http://www.buy.com/p...c/101/214876940.html

A couple of notes.  After I installed the SIIG card I had to wait for the Sharkoon so I hooked up a Seagate USB 2.0 external.  Even with the USB 2.0 I got a throughput improvement of about 15 to 20%. I use WD Caviar Black 3 Gb/sec in my docks.  With the Sharkoon USB 3.0 dock I was able to read a 6 GB Macrium Reflect image from the dock to my HD at 90 MB/sec.  Explorer can be optimistic with speed assessment in the copy dialog info, so I used Clementime stopwatch and PCalc to compute the rough transfer speed.  It really got the 90 MB/sec.  CrystalDiskMark was giving sequential read/write speeds of about 86 MB/sec before I defragged the WD.  Since the drives are plugged into a UPS I enabled the "Performance" setting for the USB 3.0 card in Device Manager to turn on write caching.

I was hoping for large file copy at around 80 MB/sec having looked at some online benchmarks before buying.  So far I'm very happy with the results.

The Sharkoon comes with a 6' USB 3.0 cable and a power pack.  Also has an On/Off push button.  I think the Sharkoon is made in Germany.  The power pack plug has a slot in it so you can slide in one of 3 provided adapters for electric outlet types.

The only mystery so far with the Sharkoon is if there is or isn't a way to toggle the inactivity spin down.  It seems to have some intelligence built in about when to spin down the drive.  But after a day of use I did not get any "drive not ready" errors.  If I tried to play a movie on the drive that was spun down, the player just waited for the drive to spin up, and continued. I'd prefer to keep the drives spinning all the time, but these Caviar Black run a bit hot.  They way Sharkoon does it may be a good thing in the long run.

If any of you have the Thermaltake BlacX USB 2.0 docks, the Sharkoon looks nearly identical.  The only difference I found other than speed is the BlacX doesn't spin down my drives when inactive.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol PLUS at 50% off until April 7

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 30, 2010, 07:34 PM »

On the installation issue, one of the things I like about WinPatrol is the BHO detection. It's nice to be able to just click No instead of having to undo it or remove it manually. Also every time I update Flash player it wants to stick that agent/helper stuff on... a couple of clicks on No and that pita is gone.

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General Software Discussion / Re: updating Firefox plugins sucks!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 26, 2010, 05:24 PM »

I rarely do the Check For Updates unless the FF on another machine has updated an AddOn or theme that I know I want to update.  When I upgrade FF I never let it check.  I wait to see if it passes my litmus tests(Silverlight Video and TV Guide Popdown descriptions.. seems if those work, everything I use will work.)

I use the Mr Tech Toolkit to override version checking. (I know I could do the about:config setting but I got in the Mr Tech habit and it also works with Thunderbird. I just keep it.)

I let it do the auto check on program load.. and just hit Skip if I don't want to bother with it.  That usually avoids a deluge as the updates tend to come in 1s and 2s.

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General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2010, 06:10 PM »

It starts out with uncontrolled entropy... leads to heroin abuse for sure!

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General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2010, 03:48 PM »

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General Software Discussion / Re: A new approach to reduce NTFS fragmentation

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2010, 01:28 PM »

Hmmmmmmm, after perusing their page it seems there's quite a high probability my magnesium fratus is not properly heterodyned when juxtaposed with the quality quotient of my bits... unicode extant of course.  It appears a gratuitous investment in frivolous software is extant if I wish to maintain my gullibility index.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Explorer right click menu without right clicking?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2010, 02:17 AM »

If it's okay to be hotkeys rather than mouse I have something already coded that might be useful.  It's called Selector.  You can see a screen shot on this page:

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

It's kind of an oddball launcher using selected text or clipboard text.  If you have a file or folder highlighted in Explorer the param sent to the program you launch from the list will be the complete path of the selected file/folder.

Since it really has nothing to do with Explorer, just the clipboard, you wouldn't invoke the context menu overhead.  You populate the ListBox by dragging either programs or shortcuts onto it.  It then prompts you for a short name to put in the ListBox.

It has a mechanism to select from a list of hotkeys.  I haven't worked on it for awhile to add any mouse hotkeys.  One novel feature, if the selected text should have spaces it has a custom Go button that wraps the param in quotes to avoid the "c:\program " not found business.

edit: I wrote Selector mainly to click in a browser address bar and open with a different browser without using plugins, or pick up selected text from an editor etc...  but for your purpose you probably want something that would cycle through multiple selections in the clipboard.  Selector is designed to really work with a single item.  The same principle should adapt to an ahk script though.. maybe a small GUI with a few buttons for common tasks.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Tool to easily disable/enable hardware device

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2010, 10:08 PM »

For the time being, this AutoIt3 script will pop up the Device Manager.

[Select]

Run("RunDll32.exe devmgr.dll,DeviceManager_Execute")

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General Software Discussion / Re: AVStoDVD 2.3.0 Alpha

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2010, 09:32 PM »

Yup.  The more I use it, the more I like it.  The only quirk I'm trying to bug the author about is with default audio settings, it will attempt to use aften, then if it gets an error, it will switch to another audio encoder.  That's fine but it requires manual intervention to kill the hanging command prompt.  If it could somehow sense and get rid of the hang to complete unattended then I'd have nothing to complain about!

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General Software Discussion / AVStoDVD 2.3.0 Alpha

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2010, 05:08 PM »

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AVStoDVD

He's calling it Alpha, but I did some runs with it on both my PCs and didn't have an issue.

The best new feature is drop down boxes for Upsize Filter and Downsize Filter replacing a single drop down for sizer filter.  No need to keep changing depending on the source resolution.  Put in your favorite upsize filter and downsize filter and set them as default.

Also the HCenc is updated to the latest 0.24 beta.
Well, see the link for all the changes.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Macrium Image Virtualization Tool Beta

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2010, 04:36 PM »

Thanks for the link.

6273

General Software Discussion / Re: Toggle2 v. 1.62

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2010, 03:23 PM »

Toggle2 v. 1.62.

Now filters out any negative position values when reading the .ini file.
(Typically if it picks up a minimized window it will show x,y positions
less than 0.)

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: usb drive backup program

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2010, 02:45 PM »

Another thought.  I've never used the Windows folder compression myself, so I'm just going by an article I read how to turn on folder compression in XP:

http://www.ehow.com/...-folder-windows.html

but if the author is correct, that files copied in will automatically be compressed, then you may be able to use an ordinary sync utility and let the NTFS file system handle the compression itself.

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Found Deals and Discounts / MakeMKV beta 1.6.15

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 21, 2010, 09:58 PM »

MakeMKV released another beta today.  Should be good for 60 days iirc.

This program is nice if you have a set top player like WD HDTV for USB or similar that plays .mkv.

The nice feature over utilities that just sit in the tray and open the disc in the BDROM is this sifts through the files and presents a list of titles, filtering out stuff too short to be of interest.  It also has a mechanism to get forced subtitles.

It is a beta but the pricing has been set at $50, no subscription or renewal fees.. just a flat $50.
Here's the link to it on videohelp:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MakeMKV