Recent Posts

7126

Living Room / Re: Dead Motherboard....maybe....what do you think?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 01:55 PM »

You probably be best heading over to the MSI site. I used to frequent it a lot and there was a good moderator called Bas who was always willing to help.

See http://forum.msi.com.tw/

Sounds like a duff board to me or possibly a duff CPU.

Any chance of trying the memory/CPU in another system just to eliminate that?

7127

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Program Closer

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 12:23 PM »

Still doesn't work for me ...

7128

Living Room / Re: Dead Motherboard....maybe....what do you think?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 11:30 AM »

Sounds like an overheating problem to me.

If it comes on after being off and then goes off again in short order it sounds like a thermal problem. Possibly the seating of the heatsink on the CPU should be checked. Try leaving the box open and get a fan to blow cold air into the box - see if it stays up then.

If the mobo was dead it wouldn't be likely to startup at all.

How did you install your CPU ?

Are you overclocking?

Do the memory cards require heatsinks? Are they fitted correctly?

Try stripping down you system to the absolute bare minimum components (graphics card/floppy disc and a boot floppy to DOS/1 mem card etc.)

7129

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Locate 3.0 - great HD search tool

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 10:13 AM »

Looks interesting - could it be used as a backend for find and run (rather than GDS) ???

By the way the homepage location for this is http://locate32.webhop.org/ which also has a daily builds section ... no source code unfortunately ...

7130

General Software Discussion / Re: Auto-synchronize FTP folders with HD folders?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 07:40 AM »

I have been using AlFTP (from Renegades AlTools site). It has a few roigh edges but it seems to work pretty well.

I have also tried using FTPGenius (part of the ZipGenius pack) but can't work out why it won't connect to some site???

A good workhorse (not free) is WS_FTP from www.ipswitch.com

7131

General Software Discussion / Re: NEW: Getright Pro Update with Bit Torrent Support

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 04:24 AM »

Might be ok for Joe B. Loodynewbie though who only downloads 3 torrents a year...

Sounds like me ....

Actually I think it is a good way to encourage people that BT is not 'threatening' - I know I felt very suspicious when I first saw what it does - especially after all the problems with other filesharing systems with porn and viruses.

One thing of interest I haven't seen elsewhere:

In a unique and very cool feature, when downloading from BitTorrent, GetRight can also simultaneously download the file from HTTP and/or FTP servers as well, putting all the pieces from all the different sources together into one complete file. This can greatly increase your speed downloading a file, especially when downloading from a Torrent where few peers have the file. And since the pieces you get via HTTP/FTP are shared out to the BitTorrent peers, this helps everyone! Nothing special is needed for the HTTP/FTP server.
How do you get this to work? Simple: if a website lists both a Torrent and a HTTP/FTP download for a file, just click them both.

7132

General Software Discussion / NEW: Getright Pro Update with Bit Torrent Support

« Last post by Carol Haynes on November 01, 2005, 03:57 AM »

I got an update today for GetRight Pro (verion 6.0b4) and they have added Bit Torrent Support

I haven't installed it yet but this looks like a really good addition to the software - effectively making it a complete download management solution.

See: http://pro.getright.com/

7133

Jibz's Tools / Re: LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - DINA FONT - v2.88, October 30, 2005

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 31, 2005, 08:10 AM »

This is great - Jibz you are working really hard on this: I know how long all this stuff takes having tried and given up !!!

7134

Site/Forum Features / Re: NEW SITE FEATURE: Drupal Pages

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 31, 2005, 08:05 AM »

FCKEditor isn't the panacea I thought ...

Trouble is you have to allow full HTML access for writing documents to get it to work even close to WYSIWYG and I am finding that you really need to use tables to produce any sort of organised page layout. Trouble is that the tables can really screw up the whol site template ....

Maybe I'll have a look at Mambo too

7135

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Confessions from a Wiki Hater ??!?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 31, 2005, 08:03 AM »

Actually I agree here ... I like Drupal (and the more I play the more I like) but the simplicity of the interface with MediaWiki is so nice.

If you are worried about security why don't you simply restrict editing/posting rights to a WIKI editing group. You can choose who is involved, and add people when you feel you have got to know them.

I like the idea of a collaborative wiki, but I really think it would become disorganised and unmageable if it were open as a free for all.

You could have a WIKI forum where no eidtors could post articles for inclusion, then one of the eds could tag it moved when it is done.

7136

General Software Discussion / Re: get avi and mpeg video file on Video-CD/DVD

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 31, 2005, 07:45 AM »

Nero 6 will create DVDs but you will need to use ReCode to produce the necessary files - do it over night as it takes for ever,

I have to say, I'm not impressed with reCode - I always get time shifts between video and audio.

TMPGEnc can convert to compatible MPEG formats (better), which you should then be able to import into a DVD Video project.

There is a free version fo TMPGEnc (see http://www.tmpgenc.net/e_main.html) but it is not very friendly.

If you want a good (and easy to use - but unfortunatley not free) DVD Authoring package try http://www.pegasys-i.../en/product/tda.html. It is written by the same people as TMPGenc but is the commercial version. If you want to use non standard files you need to use TMPGEnc to encode the files correctly, or better purchase the bundle with TMPGEnc XPress 3. They aren't fast programs but they do produce discs that work every time. There is a new version out now (which adds a few bells and whistles) but is more expensive. It is being marketed in the the US under the name TSUNAMI, see http://www.tmpg-inc....m/product/index.html - unfortunately they like to use boxed products in the US market so you can't get a download version of the MPEG editor etc. but you can use TMPGEnc XPress 3.0 which is dowloadable and functionally equivalent (and the UI is virtually identical).

The other place you could look for other software that may help is http://www.doom9.org (it's not as grim as it sounds).

Doom9 is primarily aimed at making DVD backups, but they have LOTS of really useful tools for producing DVD compatible stuff too.

7137

General Software Discussion / Re: Storage on the go

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 31, 2005, 06:54 AM »

There are quite a few items that would probably meet your needs but are designed for photographers.

Sorry I haven't a list to hand but you can look on some photo websites.

Things I have seen are USB CD/DVD Burners that work on the fly, and also hand held Hard Disc based solutions. Most of them allow you to connect via USB or plugin a media card. But you would have to make sure that the USB connection would work for your device as I am not sure how specific the software connection is.

7138

Site/Forum Features / Re: NEW SITE FEATURE: Drupal Pages

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 06:08 PM »

OK, I stand corrected - don't knwo what all the whinging is about.

I tried tinyMCE editor module from the Drupal modules page. I couldn't get it to work at all, I either got scripting errors or path errors. I suspect the path errors are a server issue with my current webhost - but the scripting errors were a bit annoying. Gave up on it ...

I have now installed FCKEditor (same download page). This seems, at least on first impressions, to work great. It give an MSWord-like user interface for editing in WYSIWYG fashion. Quite pretty, and dead easy to install - upload two packages, and enable it in the admin module page ... it even has the potential for a server side upload file browser (instructions on how to set this up in the Readme file).

Happier now ... 

7139

Site/Forum Features / Re: NEW SITE FEATURE: Drupal Pages

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 03:40 PM »

I have been experimenting with Drupal, as you know, but I am finding it really doesn't handle posting graphics well at all.

There is a graphics module on their site, but it is almost universally slated in their forums as being hard to install and not at all user friendly.

Trouble is it uses either full HTML, PHP scripts (both of which I am sure you are not happy with) or limited HTML code for posting. Unfortunaely limited means REALLY LIMITED. It gives the impression you can add tags to what is possible, so I added <img> .... doesn't work ...

The only way I can get images to work at all is to log in as admin and edit in full HTML. Users can post the correct code so it is fairly easy to do, but isn't really a nice or convenient way to do this.

It doesn't accept BB code!

Shame as other aspects of it I really like.

7140

General Software Discussion / Re: A few questions about slipstreaming, or PE type setup

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 12:01 PM »

AutoPatcher looks really useful - and might just hit the spot.

Good find ...

7141

Living Room / Flowchart and Diagramming Review

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 11:50 AM »

Having not looked at that lot I can't really say - but it is extremely comprehensive and very flexible.

It is also regularly updated (with new features as well as maintenance) and their support is really excellent: personal emails and quick response time.

7142

General Software Discussion / Re: A few questions about slipstreaming, or PE type setup

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 11:37 AM »

See https://www.donation...ckUpGuide/index.html (but I'd guess you might have already).

WRT imaging to DVD, Acronis will break backups into chunks ready for burning, and Acronis Support have promised direct burning in the current version. I have used Norton Ghost before and PowerQuest Drive Image (these have been combined now and are called Ghost AIUI) which both burn direct and to be honest I don't think it is worth the hassle.

If you have enough disc space to set up a partition (don't let Acronis configure it's secure storage!!!) to store your backups temporarily then producing DVD size chunks is ideal. You can create the full backup (overnight - if your system is like mine the first backup takes a while) and then sit at the computer to burn your DVDs. The disadvantage of direct burn is that you have to keep coming back to the computer to feed it DVDs - and if you verify the image Ghost/DriveImage doesn't do this in a terribly logical way which means lots of disc swapping.

I really recommend having enough hard disc storage to store your backups - especially if you have large amounts of material to backup. By all means burn to DVD but if you want to recover a single file (or even a partition) nothing beats having it on hard disc!! USB/FireWire hard discs are a possibility, but make sure your system can find them in DOS mode!

To answer your question - Imaging copies the whol partition, that includes System Restore data. Personally I always do a disc clean up and defrag before a full backup, including getting rid of lots of system restore points.

With hard disc backups and incremental backup capability you could actually disable System Restore as a quick incremental backup is much more effective than SR.

By the way you can still defrag your system, but it will make the next incremental backup a bit bigger. Using Perfect Disc as your defrag program has the advantage thatit minimizes the repositioning of un modified files so incremental backup sizes will be smaller (and quicker) than with some defrag programs.

7143

Living Room / Flowchart and Diagramming Review

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 10:28 AM »

Looks great, but for the ~300 bucks it should  Did you really use that one for a longer period?

I bought it a few years ago at academic pricing, and got a cheap upgrade too. I wouldn't pay full price for it though ...

It is an excellent program.

7144

Living Room / Flowchart and Diagramming Review

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 07:29 AM »

Just to remind again, SmartDraw is now at version 7.3. There have been some big interface changes since version 6, so any review would need to be based on that version.

If you haven't got access to version 7.3 there is a free trial version on their website: here

7145

Site/Forum Features / Re: NEW SITE FEATURE: Bug Tracker + Feature Request System

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 07:19 AM »

Great ... will people be able to read what is going on here or will it be private support etc. ?

Good idea, kfitting ...

Again - add to the menu bar?

7146

Site/Forum Features / Re: NEW SITE FEATURE: Wiki

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 07:16 AM »

This could be fun, and useful ....

How about adding it to the top MenuBar ?

As with the bug tracker is this going to be open access to all registered members? If so can the site membership be integrated into the Media Wiki user database so that we only have to login once ?

If you work out how to do this automatically I will be really interested how you did it ....

7147

General Software Discussion / Re: A few questions about slipstreaming, or PE type setup

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 30, 2005, 06:55 AM »

It is possible to include some applications and get Windows to run the installer automatically, but I'm not sure it is possible to have preconfigured applications installed.

There is also a limit to how much you can fit on the installation CD.

This is the sort of thing thatis ideally approached via disk imaging.

One method you could try is to use a utility like TotalUninstall to take a snapshot of your system immediately after you complete windows fresh install, and then again after you have installed the required applications. You could then copy all the files and registry modifications to a backup disc and simply copy them, and reapply the registry changes after using your slipstream disc. Shouldn't be too hard to acheive.

Personally I don't really want to take the approach that Windows installs all sorts of extras. Once you have created your "slipstream extra" disc, and get it all working perfectly, by the next time you want to use it you will have changed your needs, and half of the software/drivers on the disc will need updating anyway.

My preferred approach is to make a slipstream of the most recent service pack for clean installs, and then on a fresh install do regular incremental image backups, that way you can roll back if you have issues. If you install your core applications first you can restore the image at any time, and at any key point int he set up process. Burn those backups to DVD and you have a multiple possiblilty install system that will get you up and running in minutes without user intervention.

The only disadvantage of image restoration is that you are fixed in the drive label you can use for windows from that image. eg. If you backup up a Windows installation on Drive C then it can only be restored to Drive C. If you want a multiboot system then you can image and restore the drives separately.

7148

General Software Discussion / Re: A few questions about slipstreaming, or PE type setup

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 29, 2005, 05:36 AM »

Slipstreaming is the way to go for a generic setup disc. If you look around there are loads of good websites that will help you compile a stipstreamed CD with all your srivers and some standard software applications ready to install.

For day to day system building (on your current hardware) imaging is the way to go. You install everything the way you want it, image the hard disc (Norton Ghost, Acronis Ture Image etc) and when you want to reinstall you just restore the image. This also has the advantage with Windows XP in that you activate windows before makng the initial image and then you never have to activate again when you reinstall. Trouble is when you change hardware the image probably won't work well, although it really depends what hardware you change ...

For slipstreaming checkout this search page for lots of links.

Here are a couple I have found useful in the past:

http://www.winsupers...p_sp2_slipstream.asp
http://www.helpwithw...inxp-sp2-bootcd.html


This one looks helpful for your needs (at least as a starter) but I haven't used this one:

http://www.short-med...com/review.php?r=284

7149

Living Room / FIXED >>> Re: SMF forum problem/query

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 28, 2005, 08:38 PM »

Fixed ...

It must have been something odd happening in Internet Explorer's settings. I cleared cache/cookies/history and reset Internet Options/Security/Privacy settings to default and it now works.

Strange ...

7150

Living Room / Re: SMF forum problem/query

« Last post by Carol Haynes on October 28, 2005, 07:51 PM »

No, I have always used the default one installed.

I have backed up the database and am going to reinstall ...

I bet it is to do with tech support messing about with my account today ...