Tweaking Windows 7

Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a stand alone tweaker worth trying even if you only want to remove "shortcut to" dialog.

I don't do much tweaking with Window's 7 on a fast dual core. I even leave indexing on. But there are a few things. Maybe I will add them here some day.

Windows Media Center Network Share Service

Go here and follow the instructions. I am not interested in sharing Windows Media Library. Let's see if it perks Win7 up some. I think not running the service helps.

services.msc
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
disable

Fixing Firefox 3.6's new tab behavior

When opening a link in a new tab, by default the tab will appear next to or near the tab in which the link was selected. Think Internet Explorer or Chrome tab behaviour.

Since IE, Chrome and now Firefox do this, it'll probably become de facto for browsers, but if you wish to remain a new-tab Luddite like me and restore Firefox's previous tab behaviour (where all new tabs appear on the far right of the tab bar), follow the following steps:

Fixing Firefox 3.6's tab blunder: Blogs - Null Pointer - ZDNet Australia

Comment: I want my new tabs opening last where I can find them. The above post tells how to "fix" the new behavior. About:config under "browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent"

I may change it back later but for now I dislike the new tab system.

Remove Fake Anti Virus

I have not had a fake AntiVirus program install for ages and I don't have one now but this site is a good reference in case one hits.

Remotely Control Another Computer

Crossloop is one answer to controlling someone's desktop from your computer. The free version is illusive but can be found on the bottom of this page currently. How-To Geek has an explanation here. File transfer was available last time I used it.

TeamViewer works also but do not install. The user may mistakenly say yes to commercial use and their IP becomes blocked to TeamViewer. Not needs installing for TeamViewer to work.

Comodo Unite is a free VPN

Logmein is great

Ammyy no install client

Here are four options to remote desktop. It shows TV as the only one working in Win7. Not sure if true.

Another list of programs

Firefox 3.6 Extension Compatibility

Just installed Firefox 3.6 and most of my extensions worked but not all. Here is how to activate them. Good old about:config. Add a new Boolean string and choose false. Restart the Fox.

extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6

DNS Servers - Choose The Fastest

Here is a little program (DNS Benchmark) for testing DNS servers to find the fastest from your area. Run it and record the fastest into your router. I'm not sure how much difference it makes but my browser seemed to perk up a bit. 4.2.2.5 ended up changing places with 4.2.2.2 but I could have chased them around for little benefit.


Or just use OpenDNS 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220
Here is a good article on why you may want OpenDNS.

Hardware I own and love or hate

Here is another post I will change over time (should I get around to it).

Notebook:

Acer Predator 17 is my new notebook. Love it.
Gateway P-7811FX Notebook. I am totally spoiled with this laptop. I completely love the 1920x1200, 17 inch screen and can never go back to smaller or less resolution. Two hard drive bays is a must have and good graphics for $1250 at time of purchase. A winner.

Scanner:
Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 This is a great scanner. I buy them refurbished for under $300 and shipped free. They just plan work. Fujitsu has some anal retentive issues for 64 bit drivers and you must call support to get access to them. Why the control freakishness? They are not twain compliant (more freakishness) but who cares. To quickly scan multi-page docs and scraps of this and that, you can't beat it. Warm up is ... well ... what warm up? I ordered my last one from costcentral.com (thus the link) and waited forever to get it but at $271 no tax and free ship I can't complain.

iX500 is the replacement and much faster. Refurm around $300

Canon CanoScan LiDE 200 is a great little USB flatbed for around $49 but it is not replacement for the multipage S1500.

Smart Phone:

Samsung Galaxy 7

Copier:

Canon imageCLASS D1120 is a great copier. It starts fast and runs smoothly but don't know about longevity yet. We used Sharps but had to give up. Each new version started slower and broke sooner. Just picked up 4 Canon's at $289 each shipped after rebate. Newegg is a great store and D1120 is a wonderful copier. Sure, it is an MFC but we use them as a copier. Who makes copiers any more that are not expensive pigs? I can't find any, so MFC it is.

Ear buds:
Monoprice

Ripping DVD's

2014-12-21 for DVD to MKV (or others) try http://www.freemake.com/ I love MakeMKV but hate trying keep it from expiring.
Want to save a backup of your favorite movie to your HD? DVDFab has a free version here:
http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
It can throw the whole movie on your hard drive. Choose DVD5 if you want to burn to one single DVD disk. DVD 9 is going to be too big to burn to one DVD but I want the full detail for the hard disk archive. Maybe you just want to keep all the movies on a huge hard drive for backup or local streaming.

You can also rip with ImgBurn or Handbrake, etc.

Need a decrypter? DVD43 now in 64 bit.

If you want to burn the movie to one DVD you must shrink the movie DVDFab copied using DVD Shrink and make an ISO file.

Now you can use IMGBurn to burn the files within the image to a DVD.

Now play it with VLC or Windows Media Center will show them.

For BlueRay try MKV

All free.

If you search for ways to do this a nightmarish plethora of solutions are presented and free is hard to discern. This works while you are looking for something better.

For DVD try format factory. Here is how to get rid of subtitles:
-click rip dvd to video file 
-click the subtitles button and select none
-then click output settings
-click the additional subtitles tab to open the tab for viewing
-click the VERY top space in that tabs section (not the button to the right of the blank space...click right on the blank space itself)
-type in "None"

Make Google Your Default In FireFox

Ask.com is the most irritating but others can grab your default search in Firefox. Bing and Yahoo are also a pain. Even after uninstalling Ask traces will be left. Listen, I like Google and if I want to change it I WILL TELL YOU!

Type a word or phrase into your address bar and see which search engine works. Are you happy with it ... no? Then do this.

In about:config type keyword.url and enter http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=
This is the original default

Check out your other browser defaults.

In your address bar, type: “about:config”
Say yes to voiding warranty (very funny)
Inside of the filter search box, type: "browser.search"
Click the unwanted entries and type "Google" (watch if url is needed sometimes)
Firefox needs to be restarted to take effect.

Fancast from Comcast

It works. I had to uninstall Adobe Flash and re-install. The most recent flash was clearly installed through update but Fancast would not recognize it. I am awaiting the DVR control over internet but I can't find it. Maybe it has not been implemented in my area.

I guess this says it all:

TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built in USB Ports

This item is currently waiting on final UL Approval. It is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2010.

TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built in USB Ports

Neat idea and I know right where I’m going to put it now that cell phones will standardize to USB charging. Looks like $10 well spent.

Stream Netflix on Wii

Wii will be able to stream Netflix soon but we need a CD (call it painful). Go to the Wii site, it will direct you to Netflix and automatically set up a free disk mailing.

I just happen to have a Wii and am trying out Netflix so why not. Of course the disk is not yet available but I'm qued up.

Hardware I want to try … some day.

Nothing at the moment

List Of USB Stuff 1-6-2010

I need a place to keep USB things that work or may interest me.

Turtle Beach USB Sound Adapter

USB 3 and Your New Notebook

For what it's worth:
USB 3 is finally going main stream but gradually and grudgingly. High end notebooks, external hard drives are popping up more frequently with USB3. Desktops can be altered with an add-on card so we are back to crawling behind our computers to plug in flash drives (when USB 3 flash drives become cheap enough to consider). I guess we can always use an extension cable and duct tape it to the case. I doubt those ports on the front of your case will be useful because USB3 uses 8 wires opposed to USB2's 4 wires.

Notebooks are another matter. Adding to notebooks will not be possible for all practical purposes. If you can hold off on a notebook purchase until it includes USB3, I would hold off. If you are simply buying a $500 surf-the-net version, it really doesn't matter all that much. But a power user is going to want USB3. Yes, power users already know this so this is more for power user wannabees.

Here is an explanation of USB3. Bottom line ... it's fast.

Edit: I guess we could use a PC Express Card like this. My underwhelming experience in the USB2 from USB1 period is the lack of current but maybe PC Express is hotter. It takes juice to run an external HD. Flash drives are no problemo. It would give my lonely PC Card slot something to do.

Windows 7 God Mode

Here's how you enable it:

Create a new folder (right-click and click on “New Folder”). Right-click on the folder and click on rename, copy and paste this: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Windows 7 God Mode - SuperSite Blog

Comments: Access many settings for Windows7. Drop it in the "portable" folder and use Launchy. Just type God. Much easier to find settings than digging through menu after menu.

Or simply download Go God Mode and knock yourself out.
God Mode Creator is also neat but more limited.

Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7

Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7 Using Group Policy Editor

If you want to turn off device driver signing in Windows 7 completely, do the following.

Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7
(Win7 not listed as workable)

I hope this works but not holding my breath. I think I tried it before. This driver signing crapola has been most irritating.

If it doesn't work try this. And yes, I tried that before also. How tough can it be to crack this stupidity!

Tried ReadyDriverPlus but could not boot so reverted.

Overrider may work, found here. Panda Cloud thinks it is a trojan and "neutralizes" it ... crikey. Turned Panda off and ran Overrider and selected "test mode". Now for reboot. A small
"Test Mode" script will appear on the lower right of the screen.

Now I need an unsigned driver to try ... looking ...

Data Recovery Software by ADRC

ADRC Data Recovery Software Tools contains a collection of DIY data recovery tools that supports a wide variety of drives and file systems.

The software incorporates extremely simple GUI with novice users in mind. The software zooms in to do only critical recovery functions with minimum complexity so one could recover the data easily. It gives you full control to undelete files, disk image back up, restore a backup image, copy files from hard disk with bad sectors, disk cloning, backup, edit and restore your boot parameters.

Data Recovery Software by ADRC

I'm trying this next time I have hard drive trouble or need to recover deleted files.

Backing Up The Operating System

2019-01-21 AOMEI Backupper is the ticket

Oh let me count the ways. Vista/Win7 has easy backup for some versions. I like Drive Snapshot. I have not had to restore a Vista/Win7 install with Drive Snapshot but I hear it works, knock on wood. Vista/Win7 did something odd with the boot sector but I think Drive Snapshot worked that out with recent versions. I like how fast DS runs and how it runs from a little portable posture without having to leave Windows. Drive Snapshot is not free.

Restoring the OS needs to be done from DOS with full access to the NTFS partition. I have an NTFS boot CD with DS on it for just such a reason. This is somewhat trickier than using Acronis, etc. but I've had Acronis do some crazy errors in the past and don't really trust it. Drive Snapshot just works.

I like Second Copy. I've tried SyncToy and other sync. programs and don't like the setups and scheduling. Cobian created a deep file structure that took me forever to delete. You do not want to go through this.

My List Of Firefox Extensons (Today)

Here is the collection link: https://addons.mozilla.org/collection/bighugecomputing

Adblock Plus (on subscription page look for save button on bottom)
BBCodeXtra
Better Gmail 2
Better GReader
Blog This in Windows Live Writer
Delicious Bookmarks
Evernote Web Clipper
Gish It
Greasemonkey
IE Tab 2
LastPass
NoSquint
QuickDrag
ScribeFire
WiseStamp

Maybe I will link but for now here they are. It may be safer to simply search and get the most current.

LastPass

When I mention LastPass to people their eyes glaze over. I assume they don’t understand what it is or they seldom log into web sites.

LastPass keeps all of your passwords and form fills online. With the Firefox (IE/Chrome) add-on, one only logs into LastPass and it does the rest when you are presented with log in requests. It can replace the browser’s insecure password saves.

Mostly it works just fine. Sometimes it feels glitchy but not often. Most of the glitches happen when I want it to log on automatically and it doesn’t. Still it will fill in the info and all I need to do is hit enter. I have had it lose the log ins to a few sites but no big deal, I just logged on to that site, LP offered to remember it and all was fine again.

This is the best I have used. If you access a lot of forums, retailers, etc. then LP is a whopper.

LastPass - LastPass

Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

I’m not sure how well this works. Yes, Microsoft and free in the same sentence is rare. Right now I am using Panda Cloud and like it. But yesterday I worked on a system behind web restrictions and Panda could not access the internet. Microsoft Security Essentials may have been a good alternative. Worth a try. You do need to pass validation.

And Microsoft Security Essentials needs "fixing" sometimes? Who knew? Here is a little program to do it.

I get tired of Avira/AVG etc. and all the updates and splash screens … blah, blah. That is why I went to Panda.

Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

If your PC is totally in the toilet and a virus is suspected I would recommend a fresh OS install after backing up your data. You may try a rescue CD and get the old girl going. Here is a good list of CD downloads. 13 Antivirus Rescue CDs Software Compared in Search For the Best Rescue Disk

Here are a few other ideas.
DrWebCurit
Combofix
Trojan Remover
HiJack This
WinsockXPfix (If net broken after fooling around.) (Vista/Win7 is supposed to do this natively)
Kaspersky Portable
Stinger McAfee
AVG Rescue CD

Edit: MSE turns off (by default) Windows Defender. My problem is that on start up I receive a message that Windows Defender is turned off ... Dah! I find no fix for this yet. Defender is a sticky little bugger, how Norton like. I am tempted to run the fix file mentioned above. A work in progress.