Recent Posts

7601

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Paragon Total Defrag 2009 For Free - Powerful but controversial

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 27, 2009, 08:18 PM »

Ever since I've had HD with capacity 200 GB or greater I've kept the free space over 80%.  When I tell people I defrag(like a quicky Auslogics defrag) 4 or 5 times a week and tell them it usually takes less than 10 minutes they act like I'm lying.  But too many people run their HD over 80% full, then expect to defrag into that small free space.

@cmpm Did you run in "safe mode" ??  I'd be curious what the differential would be if you ran in Turbo(or whatever they call it) mode(with UPS of course.)

Sounds like it might be worth doing twice a year.
I just got the serial and download but haven't installed yet.

btw according to the info on the site it's NOT for 64 bit systems although it claims to support Vista 32 bit.

7602

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 27, 2009, 08:12 PM »

I haven't tried it on my 32 bit Vista machine.  I just hosed that last night playing around with msstyles and laid the backup image back on. So I want to take a break from breaking my PCs for awhile.  I think FF 3 still has a lot of AddOns I use that aren't updated.  As it is I use Mr Tech to use some of them on FF 2.x as it is.  FF 2 runs fine afaic anyway.  FF 3 still seems to have some problems like if you use themes your vertical scrollbar is gonzo so you're stuck with default.   I'll wait for awhile and see what's what.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 27, 2009, 02:14 PM »

Well, it's a no go with 3.07 on my Vista64 machine.  It won't take the server/user/password info.  Click Apply and OK and it just sits.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 27, 2009, 01:35 PM »

MilesAhead

-Bookmark Sync n Sort-

-cmpm (March 27, 2009, 12:08 AM)

Thanks very much. I'll definitely try it out today and let you know anything interesting I happen to notice.
 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 27, 2009, 01:32 PM »

MilesAhead, have you tried Foxmarks? It also sync your bookmarks, and does it reliably. If you don't like to sync to their server, you can use your own server. And the "merge" function is its default, though you can also overwrite one with the other.

-mwang (March 26, 2009, 08:55 PM)

There's nothing unreliable about Bookmark sync & sort.  I've been using it for years.
Tried Foxmarks for about 5 minutes I think.

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The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: i'd like to buy some discipline please.

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 26, 2009, 12:58 PM »

There was a philosopher so great I can't remember his name.  But I'll never forget what he said: "Sometimes I get the urge to start a new project, exercise, or accomplish something constructive.  Whenever I get that urge I lie down until the feeling goes away."

 

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General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 26, 2009, 12:46 PM »

@MilesAhead

In the bookmark dropdown menu you can select 'organize bookmarks'.
And export them to a location of your choice
you probably knew that

But the reason for this post is this knowledge of auto export on exit.

http://kb.mozillazin...marks.autoExportHTML

You may have known that as well though.

-cmpm (March 26, 2009, 12:00 PM)

I understand.  What makes Bookmark Sync n Sort unique is the formatting, as I mentioned.  Also it has an option to Merge the bookmarks, say if you're not sure which Firefox you synced from last(which has the newest.) By default it overwrites, but you can also Merge for a safer download.  Don't know what happened to the developer but I wish it would be updated for 3.x  Maybe the person just got sick of messing with it.

btw I mentioned the part about using Bookmark Sync n Sort to save the xml locally and load it from a folder because the tendency would be, if you tried that first and got garbled results, you'd give up on it.
I think I did myself when I first tried it.  But the action via ftp transfer works perfectly.

7608

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2009, 04:56 PM »

The reason I don't update to FF 3.x is Boommark Sync n Sort

It doesn't work with 3 because of the changed bookmark format.
If you have your own ftp storage this AddOn is great!! When you
upload, then download to Firefox on another machine, all the formatting,
personal toolbar, folder layout, sort by name etc. is maintained.
The only downer, other than not being updated for FF 3, is if you export
to a local folder, the xml file doesn't import properly.  Over ftp it works
perfectly though.

Another plus for the old html bookmark format is I can export my Firefox 2.x
bookmarks, import them in Opera, then manually edit the Opera6.adr file to
remove that "imported from Netscape" folder.  All that remains to duplicate
the Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar Folder is to drag & drop the entries onto the
Opera personal toolbar. The manual editing is faster and works better
than any format converter I've tried(of course I've only tried the free ones,
perhaps that's why.)


The other 2 most important AddOns are AutoCopy and Secure Login.
Secure Login is a clone of the Opera Wand password doodad. If a
password is available for the current page, the input box is highlighted
and you just click the Key on the toolbar.  Can handle multiple IDs for
the same page like Wand does.

Other than that I guess the next most important is Mr Tech Toolkit so
that I can use AddOns that work even though the FF is question is
the "wrong" version.

7609

Developer's Corner / Re: Call a webpage with a command line c# program

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2009, 01:23 PM »

If you just want to launch the default browser use ShellExecture() API

http://msdn.microsof...bb762153(VS.85).aspx

Use the URL in double quotes as the "filename" and the 'open' verb
Handle, Working dir and all the rest can be NULL or 0

7610

Living Room / Re: Linux vs. Vista for an absolute beginner? (+related Vista/hardware query)

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2009, 01:18 PM »

Hmmmmmm, when you think of it, for absolute beginners to enjoy using the machine your should probably get them a Mac.  Anything Dos, Windows, OS/2 or Linux based, they will have to Learn lots of stuff to use it well.  I remember when I got my first PC running Dos 3.1 I got bored typing "dir <enter>" and watching file names scroll up, very quickly.  It had a word processor so that's what made it useful until I started doing programs with GWBasic.  But most people don't really want to become programmers or system administrators.

You can get more PC for the buck but the "price" is learning curve.

7611

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2009, 01:12 PM »

Or at least I used to be until whatever was in that brownie I bought from that cute girl at the Renaissance Faire wore off.

-40hz (March 25, 2009, 09:24 AM)

Buying brownies can be tricky. It's advisable to consult the girl guide first.

-cranioscopical (March 25, 2009, 10:22 AM)

Guess they didn't name it Betty Crocker for nuthin'.  Truth in advertising.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 25, 2009, 12:27 AM »

(encrypted document)

Actually, that's not a bad idea.

I'd still use some 'fake-outs' on the list - but saving an encrypted attachment in a GMail account that someone could be given access to in an emergency might be something worth considering.

That would yield three independent levels of security: the GMail account password; the encryption key and methodology used on the attachment; and advance knowledge of the fake-out scheme employed within the password list.

Since I'm a nobody (i.e. "having little power, wealth, or influence") that would be more than enough security for my uninteresting life.

Is this one of the "fake outs"?  As in you are really a mogul posing as a regular guy?
Just kidding.   Somehow I can't get psyched about trusting any kind of password utility that "auto types" or form fills anything important.. such as online banking passwords or whatever.  For trivial stuff, like forum passwords, I use Firefox Secure Login AddOn.  It's a clone of the Opera Wand mechanism.  For anything that has money attached to it I don't go entering it with macros.  So just about any kind of encrypted password list gizmo is good enough.  I was using Password Corral for a long time but I'm trying out KeePass just for grins.

On the online thing, no way Jose!! I don't even keep bookmarks online unless it's my own ftp account.

7613

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Shell extension to show total play time of media clips

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2009, 06:23 PM »

Geez!! I didn't realize Explorer will show the total time of selected media files if you have Details Pane selected in Layout(or at least it does on both my Vista PCs but I have MediaInfo installed on each so I'm not sure who is doing what.)

Still, it's nice to have this utility to drag stuff from various folders etc..

edit: btw I noticed that Windows, for some reason, doesn't(at least on my systems) do total play times for .wmv files.  If this is because I auto kill WMP I don't know.. but in any case it's good to have PlayTime on.

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Living Room / Re: Linux vs. Vista for an absolute beginner? (+related Vista/hardware query)

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2009, 05:27 PM »

Generally my experience has been that Windows breaks and fixes easier.. and installs stuff easier.  Linux is harder to install stuff, rarely breaks, but if it does, it may require a lot more knowledge to fix.  So, if your newbies are going to run a fixed set of programs and that's all, then Linux probably won't break once set up.  Just use one of the journaling file systems and make sure it has battery backup(in the case of desktop PCs that is.)  If you are going to let the newbies try installing packages on whim, forget it!!  You'll be ripping your hair out!!

Either way if you can image their partitions and lock them away then a fix will be proportional to the time required to lay the backup image back on.

7615

General Software Discussion / Yet Another Window/Explorer Hotkey gizmo

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 24, 2009, 01:54 PM »

A utility with several hotkeys that function dependent on the active window.
There's a brief description here under Home Folder:

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

I think the one I like the best is Control-NumberPadMinus which
opens a command prompt.  If the active window is a program's
window, such as notepad or UsenetExplorer or whatever, the
"current directory" of the command prompt will be the folder
where that app is installed.  Otherwise if it's an explorer folder
that is active, that folder will be the "current directory."

The usual disclaimers apply.  Free for your use at your own risk
and it's a compiled AutoHotKey exe so av alerts are false positives.

7616

Developer's Corner / Re: Free ActiveX Controls for Programmers

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 22, 2009, 04:03 PM »

I just uploaded a COM container for Delphi 5 TIniFile component. Assigning a name to the FileName property creates or opens an existing .ini file. The COM container just reflects all methods into the contained TIniFile component.  Can be used by Windows compiled or scripting languages that can create objects via a Type Library.  The download has both .hlp and HtmlHelp.  The IniFileLibVB.chm has examples of creating DIniFile (the CoClass) objects using Python, VB and VC++ (using VC++ smart pointers in the VC++ example.)

7617

Coding Snacks / Re: Overlay Folder Icon with Exe icon

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 21, 2009, 01:44 PM »

thx to cmpm  for good sharing...
i were looking for nice icon software for long time..
it's cool. 

-peteryy (March 21, 2009, 10:43 AM)

So I guess I assumed the wrong thing? You weren't looking to superimpose an image on top of a folder?  I'm just curious is all.

7618

Developer's Corner / (Removed) Free ActiveX Controls for Programmers

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 19, 2009, 02:35 PM »

I've used these ActiveX Controls in a lot of my own programs and they are available for download with documentation.  They can be installed in IDEs that support ActiveX such as Visual Studio, Delphi etc..
They are "invisible at runtime" ActiveX Controls.  It amounts to a Delphi component that can be installed in any IDE that supports ActiveX, and dropped on a program form like a Delphi or VS control.

They are more designed to work with compiled code although there doesn't seem to be any problem with C# and event functioning.  With AutoIt3 and Python events don't fire as expected probably due to the line by line execution of script.

One is a pretty Windows Message Dialog type.
The other is a "single instance" type with command tail transfer.

I first coded them in 2001 so I think I have most of the bugs out by now.

They are free for use at your own risk.

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

7619

General Software Discussion / XMon Explorer Folder Monitor

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 18, 2009, 10:13 PM »

I've mentioned this utility before but it was kind of buried in an old Coding Snack idea post.  One of the most frustrating things about using Windows for me is closing a nested folder only to realize I have to go back and do something else in the same folder.  I've made some improvements in this MRU list of folders. This version only adds to the list if the folder is the active window for a time, avoiding flushing the list with folders all in the same chain as you click down into a nested folder.  The other improvement, instead of hard-wired to 10 folders max, the maximum is user adjustable in the range 4 to 64 folders. As the maximum number is reduced below the number of folders already listed, the oldest are removed.

You can see a screen shot using the link.  The installer also has another program available that's a launcher but it can work in tandem in that you can "send" folders from it to the XMon application to fill up the list with often used folders to start. This launcher saves lists of folders, shortcuts and exe paths to files like an editor.

One other wrinkle for Vista64 (and it should also work with W7 64 bit) is a "Half Shell" Button that's enabled on 64 bit OS.  Selected folders will be opened using the 32 bit shell.  This allows you to use many Shell Extensions of 32 bit apps that would otherwise not work on 64 bit.

http://www.favessoft.com/XMonShot.jpg

The download link is near the bottom of this page:
http://www.favessoft.com/downloads.html

Hope somebody enjoys using it.

7620

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Monitor Program's Creation of Files/Folders and Registry Entries

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 17, 2009, 03:27 PM »

Not exactly a monitor but if you have 32 bit win2k windows 2003 XP or Vista you can use Sandboxie

You run the application "sandboxed" and any changes made to the registry or other files will be inside the sandbox folder.  Unfortunately Sandboxie won't work in 64 bit.

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

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 17, 2009, 01:29 PM »

I updated XMon explorer folder monitor to v. 2.11
The new version has an automatic vertical scrollbar and
a spin button so that the user may adjust the maximum
number of folders in the MRU list. The range is from 4
to 64 folders.

Here's a new screen shot:

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General Software Discussion / Re: Which flavor?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 15, 2009, 05:35 PM »

I've been using locate32 for years.  Overall it's very good.  The only proviso is with Vista I'd recommend disabling "track file system changes" because after a copy of a large number of files(for example if you copy some big folders to an external to back them up) Vista can run your HD quite a bit.  You don't notice it so much in XP.  Took me awhile to realize it was that locate32 option.

I'll have to try some of the ones above.  They are new to me.

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Coding Snacks / Re: Overlay Folder Icon with Exe icon

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 15, 2009, 05:30 PM »

O, you may be right.
That would be different!

-cmpm (March 15, 2009, 04:52 PM)

I'm not sure. I've seen a few folders where there's a circular logo in the center so I thought of that.  Hope the OP replies just out of curiosity.  In any case that tool looks good to have in the box.

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Developer's Corner / Inno Setup custom Icon for {group} folder?

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 15, 2009, 03:16 PM »

I haven't had any luck figuring out how to set a custom icon for the {group} in Inno Setup.  Using IconFileName with {group} doesn't work since it demands group have a filename after it.  I'd like to use my logo icon for the start menu folder instead of the default yellow folder.

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Coding Snacks / Re: Overlay Folder Icon with Exe icon

« Last post by MilesAhead on March 15, 2009, 02:55 PM »

Hmmmmmmm I got the impression the OP wanted to have a program's icon in the center of a folder icon, not just substituted.  Maybe I got the wrong idea?
btw I downloaded IconExplorer just in case it's cool.