Tip of the day/General Tips etc

[MilesAhead]

ahhh yes

A friend just put me on to this today, I haven't got to deep in to it but so far I like it. System Info for Windows.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...Info/SIW.shtml

I just started using SIW again then noticed your recommendation here. It's very cool for exporting a log of all that info to a single html page. Good to keep with your backups. The weird thing was when I ran it on Vista it complained about not having the microsoft C runtime library dll but it did all the stuff anyway. Maybe there was a function I didn't exercise or something.

[soup]

So far I have only ran it on XP, not Vista yet. Another friend also put me on to this one.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

[NightbladeXX]

http://www.ccleaner.com/

new 2.01.507 is out
also has a Portable and Slim version availible too now http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds

- Fixed bug where some IE Temporary files were not removed.
- Fixed bug with IE7 Recently Typed URLs cleaning.
- Fixed C++ exception on Desktop shortcut scanning.
- Installer now works on 64-bit OS Recycle Bins menus.
- Optimized IE Temp files cleaning speed.
- Improved index.dat cleaning on XP.
- Fixed Registry Cleaner as "Fix All" sometimes wouldn't work.
- Keyboard shortcuts now work correctly in Registry section.
- Files winsys.ini and winreg.ini are now embedded in the EXE.
- Fixed bug where Autoupdate check could cause an exception.
- Fixed minor bug in restoring screen position and size.
- Lots of internal improvements to reliability and speed.
- Minor UI tweaks

[MilesAhead]

Do it yourself Slickrun or .. DosKey ain't dead yet

I've been a user of Slickrun http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/
for some years. It puts a small command prompt on the desktop that also shows date and time allowing you to unload the clock from the task tray.

The purpose is to create an alias(called a "magic word" in Slickrun) for commands you use often but you prefer not to make yet another shortcut.

Back in Win98 I used to mess around with DosKey. Searching around I found to my surprise it still works with XP and Vista using cmd.exe. For those who would like to try making your own aliases here is an example of setting up a pseudo-Slickrun with stuff that comes standard in Windows.

The 2 ingredients are a command prompt shortcut, and a macro file for your aliases. The shortcut Target should have something similar to this:

%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /k DosKey /INSERT /macrofile=C:\macros.txt

in the macros.txt file you store the aliases. You can check the DosKey docs for details but here are some examples:

to run multiple commands with one alias you separate them with $T
say you wanted to open a group of folders you use together often:
work=start c:\work$Tstart c:\temp$Tstart c:\folder5$Tstart c:\downloads

to pass the remainder of the command line to an alias you use $* as in
google="C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -search "$*"

or

edit="C:\Program Files\JGsoft\EditPadLite\EditPadLite.exe" $*

If you frequently stop a service you can do it without opening task manager or the services applet:

This alias stops the Sandboxie service:
boxoff=start /MIN cmd /C sc stop SbieSvc

the "start /MIN cmd /c" starts another command session minimized so if the service takes a few seconds to stop the command window isn't hanging covering your desktop.

Here's one to open My Computer explorer window showing the drives:
drives=C:\Windows\explorer /select,C:

If you think creating an alias may be useful then you can roll your own or install Slickrun. Either way they are kind of like memory resident batch files.

Oh, the other customization you can do to the command prompt shortcut is to use Properties=>Layout tab. Uncheck "Let system position window" and mess around with reducing the size of the window and its location on the desktop. Once you have it set the way you prefer, make a copy and paste shortcut into the Startup folder. Then when you log on, the command prompt is there with all the aliases loaded.

[MilesAhead]

Kludge to encrypt Opera Personal Info when not in use

Doesn't seem to be anything free that works as well as Opera Wand Form Fill Tool, at least for Opera. I like to use it, but I don't like the fact that it leaves the [Personal Info] section of opera6.ini in clear text with all the stuff you type into the Wand Form Fill.

I wrote a couple of AutoIt3 scripts that let you set things up so that the [Personal Info] section is only in clear text when you are using it. Not perfect security by any means, but better than just letting the stuff sit there in the clear in a known location. I posted the scripts on AutoIt3 Forum. Anybody who is willing to assume the risk is welcome to try/use them.

Here's the link:

http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=66237

[soup]

A new OCCT.

OCCT Perestroïka 2.0.0a available !

http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?2008/03/14/23-what-is-occt

Changelog :

MONITORING

* BugFixs : Now OCCT properly detect all 4 cores temperatures on some quad-cores CPU, and OCCT properly detects CPUs in Vista (some were problematic)
* OCCT now supports ACPI Sensors and HDD Sensors (SMART)

TRANSLATION

* The "default.po" file used for translation is usable again - it was corrupted in the previous release

Changelog 2.0.0 :

TEST

* Brand new and more effective tests !
o CPU : generating much more heat
o RAM : More effective at generating errors
o Mix (Former CPU&RAM) : alternating CPU and RAM tests. You'll see peaks in the CPU temperature graph : this is normal !
* Auto test is now 1h long
* Custom test is now 2h long by default. Don't forget you can change this in the options !
* A sound is played if any error is detected

MONITORING

* CPU-Z SDK used : OCCT now uses the CPU-Z SDK Engine to get your system information !
* Built-in monitoring : OCCT now integrates HWMonitor and will auto-configure itself for temperatures and voltages monitoring
* CSMT common monitoring interface : OCCT is now using plugins to control monitoring programs (Speedfan, Everest,...). The details of this interface will be released soon.

INTERFACE

* You can now select the custom test type in the main window of OCCT
* The ON button now blinks when a test is running (if it is not blinking : error or your computer froze)
* Option windows completly revised with new options (mainly related to graphs - see below)
* OCCT's version number is now visible on the main window
* Many new languages supported (Hebrew, Spanish,...)

GRAPHS

* Graphs can now be generated in 2 different sizes - Check the options !
* CSV files can be generated, containing the monitoring information of every graph
* Graph scales are now much, much easier to read

[Chewy]

are you trying to burn it up soup, won't the wife have something to say about that?

generating much more heat

[soup]

She has been bugging me about getting her own computer anyway.

[Chewy]

well anony used the lightning storm excuse, blu let the dust bunnies overheat his,
I guess a good long burnin/up test will do in a pinch

have you been pricing quad cores?

[MilesAhead]

Handy Restore Point Script

I found this handy .vbs script to create a Restore Point. You can put a shortcut to it in your startup folder to create a Restore Point on every boot or just double click it.

It seems to work gangbusters in XP. I got it to work a couple of times in Vista after starting about a dozen services I had stopped. I couldn't narrow it down to which services it needed exactly to run, so I only use it on XP.

If your Vista is set up "out of the box" it may work. Chances are good as not that you'll get "Provider Load Failure" in Vista though.

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts/xp_sysrestorepoint.vbs

[soup]

have you been pricing quad cores?

Keeping an eye on quad core, but seriously thinking about tri core.

[BR7]

For those have trouble with add-ons for Firefox 3 Beta 5.I was dong some snooping around because I couldn't get my add-ons to update on FF3B5.It seems you have to goto Firefox 2 and change the RDF you can find it here

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions

there is an RDF file in both folders that need to be changed.You must change the line to look like the one in the attachment<em:maxversion></em:maxversion> .After I did this and restarted FF3B5 my add-on updates worked fine.Hope this helps

[soup]

Windows SideBar.

Friend put me onto this, so far I know it works on XP32 & XP64.

http://www.desktopsidebar.com/download.html

Welcome to the world of "on demand" information using Desktop Sidebar! Desktop Sidebar was designed to give you all the information you with just a glance using specific panels. Each panel is designed to display reports and interface with other applications, settings, and virtually anything else you may want to know. The usage is virtually limitless.
After installation, you can start Desktop Sidebar. By default you will noticed preconfigured panels already setup and docked to the right side of your screen. This can all be adjusted based on preference and order.
You can control Desktop Sidebar by its Context Menu. To display this menu right mouse click on Desktop Sidebar.
To adjust Desktop Sidebar settings: Right mouse click on Desktop Sidebar and choose Options from the menu.
Special Thanks to Indian_Mayhem, acommonjo, stuffedtiger79, DemonBob, and DoitJust for their work on this documentation!

[soup]

FireFox 3 RC1.

If you wish to try the latest from Mozilla. I installed this last night right over the top of 2.0.0.14 & even although I had exported my bookmarks to my desktop to save them, I didn't lose anything. From what I can remember that is the first time in a changeover that I have not had problems. Like anything, do your own research before you make your decision. A word of warning, there might be a few of you with addons that will not be compatible with version 3, I know I had a few.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-rc.html

[Dan]

Anyone that tries FF 3 and then reverts back to FF 2 should be sure all FF 3 files are cleaned out of the folders or you may experience some problems.

Installing Firefox 2 in the same directory in which Firefox 3 has been installed may result in Firefox 2 being unstable (bug 423226)