Recent Posts

6276

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 20, 2010, 11:54 PM »

How 'bout just using 7zip to compress the entire USB contents to a zip file on the HD? That's about as simple as it gets.

6277

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 20, 2010, 05:53 PM »

I would check into FreeCommander portable:
http://www.freecomma...der.com/fc_u3_en.htm

It's not "automatic" sync.  What it does is you compare 2 folders with or without subfolder inclusion.  It shows which way copies would go of each file with an arrow.  You can delete entries if you don't want a particular one to be copied.  You hit the Sync button and all the copies commence.  If you just want to copy particular files without using the Sync feature, you highlight them and hit F5 or use drag & drop. 2 Folder panes are visible so F5 would copy to the other pane.  You can have multiple tabs on each side.

Plus it has "Layouts" which are collections of tabs.  You can set up folders you would often sync in a Layout.  A typical syncing session for me is select Web from the layouts, Compare, Sync... select Source Code from the Layouts, Compare, Sync.

2 Folders synced with subfolders included in about 6 clicks.
It's free and I've been using it for years.  Very reliable.
Also does other stuff like ftp client.
You can use some external file copy utilities instead of Explorer copy
such as TeraCopy and a couple of others.

6278

General Software Discussion / Re: help - how to make an app run at boot time (before the login screen)

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2010, 01:03 PM »

Check help on the Task Scheduler.  At least in my Vista version it has a trigger to run a task at startup. Your mileage may vary depending on what flavor of Windows you are running.

6279

General Software Discussion / Re: Macrium Image Virtualization Tool Beta

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2010, 06:36 PM »

I couldn't get it to work, but at least it didn't hose my system.

I'm getting tired of removing VirtualBox and then doing system restores just to make sure I got all the drivers and crap off.  The only thing I tried that worked was installing into a VM directly from an XP install CD.  But who wants to install apps for another week?  Not me.  I just took it off.

I suspect for it to work you need to make the image from a single partition bootable HD with the OS seeing itself as C:.  Although it's never easy to be sure with this stuff since I have a fake Raid controller in this thing.  The PC with the plain vanilla Sata only has 2 GB ram so it's not even worth messing with it on that system.

6280

General Software Discussion / Macrium Image Virtualization Tool Beta

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2010, 01:31 PM »

For those interested in virtualization tools, this beta creates a VHD from a Macrium Reflect backup image:

http://www.macrium.c...riumImageBackup.aspx

It's a beta so proceed with caution.   Er, you might want to have an image backup of your system heh heh heh

6281

General Software Discussion / Re: Free Pascal - Lazarus?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 15, 2010, 09:36 PM »

MilesAhead

Thanks for the suggestions. I know Visual Express Studio is very attractive alternative but my problem is that I spend quite a bit of time on Linux and Windows so I want my stuff to be cross platform. That is why anything .net would not slice it for me really, which is why I am not investing a lot o f time in either in Ahk or Autoit. They sure are very very nice alternatives if you are sticking to Windows.

-kartal (March 15, 2010, 03:18 PM)

I played around a bit with Mono when it first came out.  But I haven't kept up with it to see if it really gelled as a .NET platform on Linux. It may be worth a look to see if it's dead or thriving.

edit: just took a look.  Seems C# is supported across platforms but C++ is Linux only.  Perhaps not the way to go.

6282

Living Room / Re: Jetpacks are real!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 14, 2010, 05:26 PM »

Think how much rocket fuel would cost when every kid wants one ;O

-RedPillow (March 14, 2010, 04:21 PM)

Instead of stealing baby coach wheels to make a Go Cart, kids will be stealing bleach and kerosene for home made fuel.

6283

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 13, 2010, 07:57 PM »

Agreed. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" also works well for me. Some folks have been known to update and/or tweak themselves into inoperability. I have learned-- leave well enough alone.

-sajman99 (March 13, 2010, 01:28 PM)

I know....I have a sickness. I feel compelled to run the latest firmware and drivers on all my hardware even if I wasn't having problems before.

-Innuendo (March 13, 2010, 03:55 PM)

Good thing I'm basically lazy.  I seem to end up with nVidia GPU all the time for some reason.  Just saw a thing about the latest drivers overheating them and the manufacturer advising to back off to the previous release.  Sloth has it's virtue at times.

6284

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 13, 2010, 07:55 PM »

I like to get the ink jet hub printable, as they call 'em, myself.  I don't bother to print labels. Just use a sharpie.  But when I see the shiny version at half the cost and they work, it's tough to resist.

Just wish I could get a similar savings on the 8x DVD+R DL

6285

Living Room / Re: Jetpacks are real!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 13, 2010, 02:05 PM »

I know a guy who was a flight instructor.  Dropped 3 helicopters and walked away.  Lots of bubble shaped glass on the runway though.  Funny but he never had a problem setting down a fixed wing aircraft.

6286

Living Room / Re: Jetpacks are real!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 13, 2010, 02:03 PM »

'sokay... He lands with a parachute.

-Edvard (March 13, 2010, 04:56 AM)

And we know those never fail!! 

6287

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 13, 2010, 02:01 PM »

we are the only two on DC fanatical enough about this stuff to discuss it

-Innuendo (March 13, 2010, 11:42 AM)

For some of us it's no longer a burning issue.

-cranioscopical (March 13, 2010, 01:13 PM)

Dude!! Gimme a layer break will ya'? 

6288

Living Room / Re: Will you miss newspapers when they're gone?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 12, 2010, 11:21 PM »

Hmmmmmm, the other side effect.. when Film School students watch Citizen Kane they won't get the newspaper crusader dominance bit.

6289

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 12, 2010, 11:15 PM »

Weird indeed, Miles. Oh well, don't look a gift burn in the mouth & keep on burning.

-Innuendo (March 12, 2010, 09:28 PM)

Yeah, it's all good.  It's not like I sit here cranking them out.  The main thing is the coaster count is negligible.

6290

General Software Discussion / Re: Free Pascal - Lazarus?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 12, 2010, 07:39 PM »

I played around a bit with Python. Mostly the ActivePython distro with the Windows COM support.  There are things I like about it, but as you say, doing a freeze to pack stuff up in a self-contained thingy can be weird.

If you really feel the need to learn C++ then I'd suggest going with the C++ Express Visual Studio 2008.  Somewhere months back I found an .iso image with SP1 integrated and the install on my Vista64 went smoothly. If I'm not mistaken, some of the Borland guys who did the delphi form designer stuff went over to MS a few years back.  The form design in VS has pretty much the same feel to it.

Unless you are using the newer features you can target .NET 2.0 and it will run on just about any windows XP and later. One thing I did like about C# stuff that I did with it, is you can persist settings in the application using properties.  The C# forms support alpha transparency just using an opacity value.  So for example if the user moved a slider to set the opacity of the form, then closed the app, you could have it set up to automatically persist the value in the user's settings.

Some things it makes easy.
Cool looking stuff with glass and non-rectangular forms or skins, that kind of stuff takes a bit more work.

6291

Living Room / Re: Jetpacks are real!

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 12, 2010, 03:02 PM »

Looks like it will be Adam Strange pretty soon.  Just have to watch out the rocket exhaust doesn't fry your ass.

With all these gizmos one has to contemplate what happens when the "engine" stalls. If it's "drop like a stone" then I don't even want to be a passenger.

6292

General Software Discussion / Re: Toggle2 v. 1.6

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 12, 2010, 02:54 PM »

Toggle2 v. 1.61

Added hash to AppList settings to differentiate between programs launched from different drives or folders.

Say you have Firefox portable in one folder and normal Firefox in another. By hashing the entire path of the exe file it allows maintaining separate positions settings in the .ini file without storing the entire path as the key. (Thanks to trancexx on AutoIt3 forum for posting the hash function.)

Toggle2 v. 1.6

Added command Save Position Settings to Tray Menu.  Writes settings to .ini file immediately.

6293

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 11, 2010, 09:00 PM »

Hmmmmmmm, this is interesting.  I looked at the specs for my HP Pavilion quad core and the burner spec for DVD+R DL shows 4x as the max.  Pretty weird. Fortunately my dual core burns 'em at 4-8x.

6294

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 11, 2010, 07:43 PM »

I've never seen that.  Do you have "Lock Volume Exclusive Access" checked in
Tools=>Settings=>Write   (It's in the cluster of settings on the left hand side.)
...

-MilesAhead (March 10, 2010, 03:09 PM)

Yes, I do, and also the option below (ignore mounted filesystems).

-MerleOne (March 11, 2010, 02:13 PM)

edit: hmm, don't know what to say to that one.  May be a case for the Imgburn forum. Let LUK have a go at it.

6295

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 09:39 PM »

I would agree AVStoDVD provides a smoother overall experience than HCbatchGUI.

-sajman99 (January 14, 2010, 04:41 PM)

You know the more I use AVStoDVD, the more I find I'm going with the defaults. When the space is totally filled in a DVD9 then 8500 kbit high quality one pass with QuEnc looks pretty good.  I mean, you can't go over 9000 anyway, so how much room is there to maneuver?  Maybe people demanding the max quality would make changes but it seems like the result is consistently good when going from a high bitrate/resolution source to standard DVD9.


The only change I made other than selecting spline16 resizer when downsizing resolution was to the SubtitleCreator settings.  I think the default fonts are just way too large.  I chopped 'em down a tad. Other than that I'm just going with it out of the box.. other than substituting the latest HC beta executable that is.

6296

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 09:28 PM »

I'm not a big believer in firmware update when the thing isn't broken.  I've had bad code turn a perfectly good piece of equipment into a paperweight.  I don't want to repeat the experience.  16x is fast enough for me.

6297

General Software Discussion / Re: Which Linux For Non-Techie Windows Users?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 05:46 PM »

I think linux won't feel different after 5 minutes to the completely ignorant types, for instance those who hold the mouse in a weird fashion.

-eleman (March 10, 2010, 09:28 AM)

You mean like Commander Scott pickin' the thing up and talkin' to it?

6298

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Verbatim DVD+R 16x a quarter apiece

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 05:31 PM »

All I can tell you is I go by what works in my burners.  I've had very good luck with these DVD+R 16x metalic on sale either online @Egg or in OfficeMax brick&mortar.

Many people swear up and down that the only way to go is TY.  But it seems that every HP Pavilion I get, the burner only wants to burn TY 16x discs @2.4 or 4x.  No TYs for me until I see some that burn correctly @16x.

In my last 3 PCs Verbatim DVD+R has burned consistently good @16x.
Your mileage may vary. I don't understand how they do the write strategies
for these burners.  My new PC will only burn Verbatim 8x DL @4x, while my
old PC will burn the same discs @4-8x.  But the new PC has better write
strategies for just about everything else but the TY.  Go figure.

6299

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Line-Numbered textfile

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 03:13 PM »

You may be able to find a text editor that only opens a "window" into the file, instead of opening the entire file in memory.  I don't know of any off-hand.  But back in the old Dos days you only had 640KB so you couldn't just load a MB file in ram.  The editor would seek through the file on disk and load a portion of it.

6300

General Software Discussion / Re: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 10, 2010, 03:09 PM »

Imgburn is indeed a great tool, but I'd like to know why, in some cases, when burning an iso file, it takes up to 10 minutes in the "creating threads" phase before starting to burn anything (XP Home SP2).

-MerleOne (March 10, 2010, 10:38 AM)

I've never seen that.  Do you have "Lock Volume Exclusive Access" checked in
Tools=>Settings=>Write   (It's in the cluster of settings on the left hand side.)

Sometimes if you have other burning software it will try to mess with the optical drive even when you aren't running it.  If that option is checked, Imgburn should pop up an error dialog if another app is trying to access the drive also.

Other than that, problems I've had with Imgburn I could usually get around by trying a different version. I had some issues with 2.4 and stayed with 2.3.2.0 until 2.5 came out.  Then it seemed to work fine with my drives.

http://www.videohelp...ld-versions#download