Missing a DX file? Reinstall DirectX

Microsoft DirectX Downloads

DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) Full Download This download provides the DirectX end-user redistributable that developers can include with their product. This update includes the DirectX for Managed Code Update from the DirectX SDK Update.

Yes, finding DirectX to install can be confusing. I found it here for now. Why? Missing dll file for a DX9 game. Choose the "end-user runtimes).

I have downloaded individual dll's but this is actually easier. Finding a sight that will let you download the file without trying to get you to register, pay or who know what, takes longer than just installing the new DX (if you can find it).

10-free-tools-to-repair-windows-7

10 Free Tools To Repair Windows 7 No matter what operating system you are using, be it Windows, Mac, or Linux, you will come across issues that prevent the smooth operation of your operating system. Fortunately, a handful of quality, free applications are available to fix common Windows problems.

Comments: I don't know, could come in handy.

Printing Envelopes - It Should Be Easy

I have never found envelope printing software worth using. Usually they don't even work. Microsoft Word is still the champion with envelope printing, spit, spit. But who wants to open that up and click, click, reset font, each time you want to print one simple envelope. The poor man's option is using Word to print one envelope to pdf. Then open it with PDF-XChange Viewer and white out the "to" address. Use the typewriter tool, set up the font you want for "to" and set default. Now use PDF-xchange to print that quick envelope from the template. Yes, you have to guess the appropriate location for the to address but not a big deal. I love PDF-XChange Viewer. It has so much more functionality than Nitro. I still need Nitro for its "signature" function. Otherwise I have to print, sign, scan, send. Actually PDF-XChange can handle signatures in .png but not a nicely.

PCMech has instructions for Libre envelope printing, lots of steps.

You Have Downloaded

You Have Downloaded - We show what you downloaded

Hi. We have no records on you. This means you are using a private torrent tracker or, of course, you may not be a torrent user at all! It happens. Please, entertain yourself. Feel free to see what other people have downloaded. The search box is on the top. If you have any friends who use torrents, use it to scare them off. We also have a widget that you can install in your website, blog or Facebook page. Or you can just send them a link to this site. They will see a table similar to what you see below. The only difference — they will see their downloads.

This site reads your ip and reports if they have tracked you downloading torrents. Interesting but inconclusive.

IDE to AHCI After Installing Windows

How to enable AHCI in Windows 7 RC after installation

*** The good news with Windows10 is you do not need to change anything in the OS. Just change the BIOS and reboot.

AHCI  (Advanced Host Controller Interface) enables native command queuing and hot-plugging through SATA host controllers (Serial-ATA) for your hard drives. In many scenarios it enables more efficient multi-tasking. Vista was the first Windows OS to support AHCI out of the box, where as Windows 7 does the same. But an issue with AHCI is that if you install the OS without enabling AHCI in the BIOS, enabling it after installation will render your OS unusable. This is because Windows disable the AHCI driver since it is not needed during the installation.

If you installed Windows and used IDE, the change is easy. Go to above link for directions. Improvements may be marginal but SSD's usually want AHCI, so if you are changing to SSD this quick change will help. Look for the reg hack for quick and easy.

Here is the difference with my 75GB Raptor. Seems too large a difference but seeing is believing. Windows experience index did not change but the Raptor has less chatter and things are perceptively smoother.

Before

After

Just Bought My First SSD

Windows 7 and SSDs: Setup secrets and tune-up tweaks | ZDNet

1. Make sure you have the latest firmware. Because firmware updates wipe out all data on the drive, you must do this operation as the first step; make sure to back up all existing data first. You’ll need to check with the drive manufacturer or the OEM, depending on whether you purchased the drive as a retail upgrade or as part of an OEM PC. Follow the instructions to complete the firmware update; this typically requires booting from removable media such as a USB flash drive.

2. Set the disk controller to AHCI mode. In the system BIOS, set the SATA controller for Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) operation before installing Windows. This step is crucial. Using the legacy IDE or ATA mode prevents you from installing the proper disk controller driver later and will result in reduced performance.

This article has some important information for initial set up.

Connect To Google Docs

Cyberduck – FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files, Google Docs & Amazon S3 Browser for Mac & Windows.

With an easy to use interface, connect to FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer), WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning), Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Windows Azure, Rackspace Cloud Files and even Google Docs.

I have been using Google Docs more lately. You can't beat it for keeping information in the cloud. Cyberduck allows you to access Google Docs as in a file manager. You can download them for backup or quick use. 

AdBlock Causes Blank Pages To Load

Chrome Web Store - AdBlock

AdBlock for Chrome! Block all advertisements on all web pages, even Facebook and Youtube. Your browser is automatically updated with additions to the filter: just click "Add to Chrome," then visit your favorite website and see the ads disappear!

The first extension I add to chrome is AdBlock. I am always shocked at browsing without AdBlock. It is a miserable experience. But lately some sights need to be refreshed several times to get the page to load. Newegg is one of those sites for me.
I have no idea what is the problem and AdBlock denighs any responsibility (despite turning off AdBlock fixing the issue). And I find life totally unacceptable without AdBlock. So the quick fix for me is to enter Newegg's domain into AdBlock's option page as white listed. If I find other sites that are a problem I will add them also, unless they are popup monsters.

How Secure Is Your Password

How Secure Is My Password?
This is a normal password I use:

This is with eight letters only

It would take a desktop PC

About 13 minutes
to hack your password

Then I added a four number sequence

It would take a desktop PC

About 600 years
to hack your password

This is how results change by adding a single space between the letters and numbers

It would take a desktop PC

About 5 million years
to hack your password

Go to the above site and check out your favorite password.

Analyze Hard Drive Space

TDP x-Ray Lite | TDP

TDP x-Ray is a visual tool intended for disk space administration. It has been designed to simplify the work with high-capacity data storage containing millions of files. You shall

This can be use stand alone/portable by extracting the files. It is quite fast.

How to use a 360 Controller On Your PC

How to use a 360 Controller On Your PC | PCMech

Chances are, you’d want to game with your Xbox controller instead of the archaic mouse-and-keyboard setup.

Marked for future

Network Scan Users of Your Wifi

Wireless Network Watcher is a Portable Free Network Monitoring tool created by NirSoft. It can be used to view or see who is using your Wireless Network (Who is on your WiFi). The tool scans and creates a list of every computer and device that is currently connected to your wireless network. The IP address, device name, MAC address, and network adapter manufacturer is displayed for each computer connected to the wireless network.

This is great. Good detail. I'm not sure if it sees wired connection but it grabs the wifi with ip's and descriptions of who/what. No setting ip ranges, just click and go.

Network Fix Portable (could be useful)

Complete Internet Repair is a no nonsense portable tool created by rizonesoft. As the name suggests, it can be used to attempt to fix or repair any internet related problems with your computer, including network problems. This tool can be particularly handy if you happen to experience one of the following situations.

Lock Keyboard - For Cleaning Maybe?

Kid-Key-Lock is a simple program to lock specific keyboard and mouse  functions.

Stock Trading Software

Quote Tracker is a great free trading-tracking program.

Think or Swim is Ameritrade's web based trader.

NirSoft Launcher - More Great Portable Utilities

One of the quality producers of Windows software is Nir Sofer, who has produced more than one hundred different portable applications for the Windows operating system. Generally speaking, all Nirsoft applications are high quality programs that are highly popular and used by many Windows users.

I like several NirSoft utilities and appreciate their launcher package. You can add the Sysinternals package, too. Security Essentials will give some positives so just "allow" them. NirSoft and Sysinternals combined take about 45 MB.

Tip: ghacks.net

Format Flash Media If Unuseable

This HDD Low Level Format utility is free for home use. It can erase and Low-Level Format a SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI or SSD hard disk drive. Will also work with any USB and FIREWIRE external drive enclosures as well as SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash media.

Use only on hopeless media.

Tip: PCMech

Security Software Downloader (the easy way to find stuff)

SSDownloader or Security Software Downloader is a small, easy to use download manager specially designed for security software.

It is stand alone non-installing software that links to all the good security programs. Great for new installs.

Hat Tip: gHacks.net

Monitor Bandwidth

NetLimiter to monitor what is sucking up your bandwidth. It wants to start automatically with every boot, I just said no because I have Startup Monitor installed (and you should too).

HDTV Calibration Disk Free

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496

Are You Lusting After Google+

Here is a link with invites. Keep opening links. When you finally get to the "Join" page, just do it. You will know when you are there because it will say, well, "join".

Now that I am "joined" what do we do? Invite others I guess.

Gimp Is A Must Have For Me

I do love Gimp for image manipulation. When creating a graphic for a blog, I find it indispensible.

(now if I only could spell "useless")
Download Gimp
Install it. Standalone is possible but adding scripts and plug-ins is easier if it is installed.
Now go to Gimp’s plug-in registry.

Once there type in “layer effects”, scroll down and download layerfx.scm. Place this file in the “scripts” folder. C:\Users\Your Name\.gimp-2.6\scripts. Reopen Gimp and you will now have a new menu called Script Fu with some nifty stuff, “bevel and emboss” for one.\
Get Liquid Rescale, FX Foundry, G'MIC (awesome), Auto Rotate, arrow script and layerfx.scm if the above method does not work. Layerfx.scm has the scriptfu layers which are very important.
Gimp plugins are .exe files copied to the "plugin" directory. Do Not try install them.
Fonts: Titling (great for poster) fonts can be in sub folders for Gimp. Bazooka for fun flyer.
Gimp will use your Windows fonts but if you want to install additional fonts just for Gimp simply drop the font into Gimp's font folder. Which will be here:C:\Users\"your name"\.gimp-2.6\fonts
A good place to learn a few things is GimpTricks Youtube channel. Unlike many tutorials where you watch them install Gimp, search for a picture and load it, this woman gets to the nitty-gritty right now. ePhotozine is another place for good advice. Another good YouTube site.

Scripts for 2.8
FX Foundry
Normal Map Plugin

Photoshop is fine but bloated for my use. Gimp is free and does everything I need and more. Yes I can place Angelina Jolie's lips on your face.

Arch Text
Adjusting the arch text (I don't like his language but he settles down)
Textures
Python for Gimp is tough to install and I'm still working on it: Actually I gave up for now.
Using Python scripts (find it here) Gimp works fine without it but some functions are missing. Finding the correct files takes some hunting.
Charicature
Obama Hope create just use snipping tool


place screen behind text
copy paste area as new layer
desaturate and brightness and lower contrast -70ist
fill with this color
use these setting on bucket fill
opacity around 50
multiply
Dark blue

r17
g4
b173
drop that layer opacity to 80
create mask and fade by with blend tool

Cartoon technique

• Layer->Duplicate Layer
• Select the new layer, Filters->Edge-Detect->Edge, select Sobel, Amount should be 2.0, andBlack should be checked.
• Invert the edge-mask layer, it’s in Layers->Colors->Invert
• Back in the Layers Dialog, change the Layer Mode to Divide

Play around with Layer mode settings, desaturate the top layer, blur or otherwise mess up the bottom layer.
Or this:
The bulk of the effect is accomplished by creating a duplicate layer and setting its blend mode to "Value", then running the "Colors->Retinex" filter on the duplicate with a Scale of "16" and a Dynamic "0.1"

This works well but remember to use originals to color and saturate. http://herselfswebtools.com/2007/06/7-steps-to-turn-a-photo-into-a-cartoon-using-gimp.html

HDR can be created with http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/index.html
Watch the tutorial on YouTube Fotolinq here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qroY5QhgTnI
there are 4 videos for HDR.

PDF Stuff

Because I don't want to write this again.

Do it online:

http://www.pdftoword.com/

Do it from the desktop:

http://www.hellopdf.com/download.php

I have not used either of the above so if they don't work, try something else.

Use PDF XChange Viewer instead of Adobe:

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

If it installs a pdf printer I would delete it and use the one of those below.

This is a great, fast pdf handler. Typer in the PDF with "typewriter", add, delete, move pages.

Print anything to pdf with doPDF:

Install it and it becomes a printer option like selecting Brother Tonerhog.

If you wish to remove the security in a pdf, reprint the opened pdf to doPDF and save.

http://www.dopdf.com/

Or use Bullzip (same as doPDF):

http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

Make a Cartoon of an Image

http://www.cartoonize.net/

This could be useful for, say, Harry Reid's face

Fonts

Where to go list:

TypeNow
Dafont
Here

I thought I had a list and wanted to add this. Who stole my list? Eh, I probably never had one.

New York Times Headline = Chomsky

New York Times Small Headline = Times New Roman Italic

Windows 7 with SP1 Download

Windows 7 Ultimate x86 SP1 (bootable) [download]
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1 (bootable) [download]

Google's Blue Arrow

I seriously hate Google's blue arrow that refuses to scroll the search page but instead clicks its way down through each entry. In fact I hate it so much that I am now using Bing as my default search. I would love to rant on about how stupidly useless this blue arrow is but why waste the time.

InfoSelect Replacement?

Since the death of XP in my world I have mourned the loss of InfoSelect. I loved the way it accepted random information and quickly retrieved searches. I even paid for the original program and again paid for several updates until I finally could not stand further abuse. Enter an old, in computer years, program Yadabyte Notes. It is portable and does all I want without the bloat. Now to start documenting my life again and all sorts of yada, yada.

It has some quirks. One is it crashed already under Win7. Another is the cryptic way it deletes notes, if indeed it does delete notes. It may be to quirky for me.

So it's back to SimpleNote. Cloud is more convenient anyway and hey, I'm not entering my own personal information, I'm entering yours.

e-Books Musings

I especially like 'historical fiction" but finding it is difficult. Wikipedia has a fair list of authors.

If we need a peek at what is available from the shady side, we look here. Be sure to have "Adblock" installed because some of these sites love porn advertising in the margins with pop ups.

If you need to change format, use Calibre.

My New Lenovo SL-410

Driver page (impossible to find on Levono site, had to Google, notebook not even listed!)

2842k3ulr15xkw s/n

$420 w/ship/tax from the Lenovo Outlet. ThinkPad SL410 2842-K3U

First caveat, do not use the Lenovo update. It will download the Windows updates and painfully install them one package at a time. Each time you must "agree" to the EULA and each time it reboots. Once was enough for me.

Included is a lot of Lenovo centric software that appears useless and needs to be turned off and or uninstalled. I normally dump the wifi controls and let windows handle things. Lenovo s is so cool I will keep it for awhile at least.

It seems sluggish yet even after some tweaking. Maybe memory increase from 2gb to 4gb will help.

The touch pad is a little strange. If you miss tapping the center it doesn't register well. I have no clue how to use the other nav buttons.

The screen is crisp and colorful and very bright.

Keypad is responsive with nothing too strange in the layout.

Speakers are better than average but nothing fantastic.

Very quiet and runs cool, under 40C on a warm summer day surfing.

More to come.

NF4 and Windows7 (Yikes)

I tried installing Windows 7 on an old NF4 machine (again). I forgot it doesn't work. Well, it does work but you need to grab SATA drivers and nothing from DFI worked for me. I finally found them on this web site. For 32 bit here is a download link.

I had split 2 Raptors on RAID 0 and Win7 would not see it. I installed XP first and then installed Win7. So I didn't use the driver but maybe it would have worked without installing XP first.

Sardu for Multiboot USB

SARDU is a free* software that can build one multiboot support CD, DVD or a USB device (USB stick/pendrive and all removable are supported).
Not tried but marking for possible use.
or YUMI

Use WinsetupfromUSB and don't bother with the others.

Microsoft Security Sweeper

You have been directed here to download and install the beta version of Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Beta, a recovery tool that can help you start an infected PC and perform an offline scan to help identify and remove rootkits and other advanced malware.

Here is another Microsoft virus remover. I am uncertain how it differs from "Saftey Scanner" but it is worth a shot. 

Ubuntu 11.04 Don't Bother

Ubuntu 11.04 is a total piece of crap. The two machines that ran v 10 well can't run 11.04. I won't go into all the gyrations it goes through but I won't waste more time on it. How did they ever let this thing out the door. I have not installed to hard drive but only tried to run from USB.

Xbuntu 11.04 runs from a USB stick fine.

Authorized Hardware Approved by Me

I need a page to keep track of computer peripheral hardware that works.

FM Transmitter
Go Flex
This is a wonderful device that works flawlessly. I paid $29 from a Newegg deal. It will make you look forward to your next road trip. Use Bluetooth, USB or standard 3.5mm cable.

Copiers:
Canon Lasers imageCLASS D530 picked up for $89 each and trying.

Headphones

SONY - Studio Headphones (MDR-V600) $65-99

Great headphones, comfortable, sound great.

Monoprice earbuds wonderful and cheap

Scanner
Scansnap S510 or S1500
Clean or replace parts
Buy factory refurbs from PCRush for low $300's - I've paid just under $300 for some.
The only caution is lack of TWAIN for Windows but it will eat stacks of multi-sized paper and do it fast. We use them daily and love 'em. Fujitsu's driver acquisition is an ever evolving mystery but you can eventually find what you need with a little help from the X-Files section of the FBI.

Speakers

Logitech S-220 $20-30

Good cheap 2.1 set

WiFi
TP-Link TL-WN722N is an N usb wifi NIC rated highly on NewEgg. On Windows 7 it needed to download a driver but Windows update found a driver. I do not have an N router but G worked fine. For $16 it makes a good backup but needing a driver reduces its usefulness in an emergency unless you have the disk or another way of connecting to the internet. The antenna is reported to have good range so I grabbed it for future use.

Intel Nic card if you are on a network and stuck with a 10/100.

Where to buy stuff
http://www.pacparts.com/  for TV motherboards

WDTV or Roku

I can't decide if I want Roku or WDTV like products in the first place but if I do chose WDTV here is hacked firmware that looks interesting.

I would buy WD but am considering some of the "melt down" problems some people are reporting. Performance appears to degrade for some people over time.

CordCutters answers some questions about keyboard, storage and youtube.

Microsoft Malware Scanner (stand alone)

Don't bother to download before needed because it does not update. How good? Don't know but it is one more option when your friend's computer is terminal.

Bitdefender has one also.

SpaceSniffer to Analyse Disk Space

SpaceSniffer is a good disk space analysis tool. It displays much like SpaceMonger (which I like) but is kept updated without fee. Start as Admin or it will error on C:. It will auto update HD info as the drive is altered so no refresh needed, a nice little program.

Why use it? To get a graphical representation of file/folder space on a hard drive. It is much easier to determine what is eating up you HD with a picture worth a thousand words.

Credit: PCMech

De-smoking My "New" 2002 DTS Cadillac

No this is not turning into a car blog but I bought a smoker's Cadillac and have to deal with it. This is my blog, after all. Why did I buy a smoker? Because it was original owner and in nice shape and I lied to myself about how bad the smoke smell really was. I have to eliminate the smoke smell or sell it. I thought 103,000 miles for $6000 was no steal but better than average and I liked the one owner idea. He was a kindly gent from Maine and the car ran great with very good interior needing some cleaning. He spent 7 months each year in Florida so rust should not be an issue. This car should easily go 200,000+ miles with no fuss and some luck. There is something about 6 cents a mile base car cost while driving in luxury that makes my heart flutter. I shoot for 10 cents per mile cost on what I think the car has remaining to it's life. This takes some of the emotion and mystery out of decision making.

A good conservative auto appraisal is Edmunds.com although it may not make you feel good about what you paid. Input is less of a click fest than Kelly's Blue Book.

I won't mention that the driver's window rolled down and not up (it was raining during the trial run so I neglected to try the windows). Either it was bad luck or Mr. Maine "forgot" to mention it. I would have bought it anyway. Non-working windows don't scare me. He gave me his business card, owned a bull dog and blah, blah so I don't think he was trying to pull anything. I may be too trusting. Possibly buying a car in the rain at night is not a good idea. At least we knew the wipers and lights worked.

Smoke clearing ideas:

White vinegar in a bowl left overnight several nights. (or leave wet vinegar rags in open plastic)

Wipe everything with vinegar (try lightly misting/gently wiping headliner)

Baking soda

Coffee grounds (fresh) (not my Gevalia please)

Can of Fresh Air from NAPA (spray in air intake under dash while running on circulate)

Change filter under hood in front of passenger. (spray with glycerin leather conditioner)

Wet cedar chips in old nylon stocking hanging under dash. (does anyone wear these?)

Ozone

Cut apple

Charcoal (activated)

Vanilla extract on cotton ball

Green Christmas Trees (just kidding) (remember the Grumpy Old Men movie?)

Right now I have a detailer doing his magic and he is giving it an ozone treatment. - Detailing went well for $160. The car is very nice inside and out. They get the major dirt but always miss things so there is work to do. The smell is much better but there is still an aroma journey ahead. Ozone is definitely not a cure all. At least I will be able to stand it enough to apply some of the above magic tricks.

The engine on a DHS is so beautiful it is a shame to leave it dirty. Some citrus cleaner and a few disposable rags from Home Depot does wonders. A steam clean place would be nice but I have not found one and this is good enough and cheaper.

Going for the window fix tomorrow.

Seat belt cleaning: I guess the detailer doesn't do seat belts. The passenger belt was filthy and it stink, stank, stunk big time. I tried my favorite citrus cleaner and Folex carpet spotter but finally a little Oxi Clean in a bowl with a tooth brush takes the prize. It took spots with ease that the others didn't touch. This is tedious but I thought a new belt may be needed. This one is looking pretty darn good. Find something to clip the belts fully extended to keep from fighting with them. You will need this to dry them in the end anyway. I used a vinyl cutting board as a flat base to scrub.

I guess detailers don't do much with head liners either. A damp rag with white vinegar got slightly yellow. The headliner looks great but I know those little ciggy critters are living in there. The vinegar is supposed to break down and deodorize the smoke also. I'm thinking more of these applications will be needed. We can't get the headliner wet or it will separate from the foam backing and sag. Last resort would be to replace as a last ditch effort. I'm really starting to hate cigarette smokers as a class of people!

Window, if both regulator and motor are needed, will run $500, ouch.

Vibration and slight break pulse. Yep, rotor work, a couple pads, balance and align at Tire Kingdom = $453.

6000 car

160 detail

453 breaks, balance, et. al.

237 window regulator

----

581 A/C blower

441 read window regulator

68 misc bulbs, etc

----

7940 it keeps adding up

44 second key

469 License

-----

8453 keeps getting worse

250 hail dents removed

185 3rd window fixed (regulator)

372 air intake (200 more because Cadillac)

683 alignment + 2 tires + 2 tie rod ends

Floor mats, even though I extract cleaned and had it detailed they still smelled. They didn't seem to smell directly (nose on the mat) but the car smelled worse with the floor mats installed. Now I am going to soak them in a garbage can for 48 hours with Oxi Clean. Kill or cure. It worked well. This is how I am going to clean floor mats from now on. I used my Little Green Machine to extract the nasty water. I doubt anything will make a ten year old floor mat new again but soaking is effective. It works great for rubber/vinyl also and they lightened by several shades. One small corner was not submerged so I had to leave that mat in for another 24. The shading difference on that small corner was significant but another 24 fixed it.

A few carpet cleaning ideas I tried that work:

The Little Green Machine is a sad excuse for a carpet extractor, but I use it. Don't count on the liquid sprayer lasting very long and the suction is pathetic. So why? It is small and handy. When using liquid, the seal is so good it does not take monster suction to work and you want to use as little water as possible anyway. If I should want to suck the carpet off the floor I could use my X-Man Rigid from Home Depot but I seldom do. And when I do, I take the liquid wand head off of the Green Machine and attach it to the Ridgid (I needed a reducer).

Buy some professional carpet extraction cleaner from Home Depot and put a table spoon or so in a spray bottle. I've never measured but I don't use very much. Apply it to limited areas of the carpet and brush it around with a nylon brush, don't be timid. Don't suck it up yet. Dip the brush in a bucket of water and shake of the excess water. You do want to add some water to the carpet by doing this. Now brush the area again. Suck that up and repeat with water until satisfactory. You want to get as much cleaner out as possible.

Sometimes the next day or so will reveal small areas that need more work. Those areas may give up their dirt more easily now after having been worked on once already.

Here are some interesting carpet cleaning ideas. And here. And here.

303 Fabric and Vinyl Cleaner Home Depot or Target

303 High-Tech Fabric Guard

Vents: I did the "Fresh Air" type product from Advance Auto Parts and it seems to have done wonders. Time will tell. I may be winning the battle. Be careful with this stuff. It spits out from the vents slightly and some may have gotten behind the temp read plastic window just under the center vents. How am I going to get that out to clean it? Well it's typical for me. I usually wreck something while cleaning. - The dealership said the HVAC unit is sealed and can't be cleaned so the little fogged window spot was probably not my doing. Found one on eBay for $29 but I'm leaving it for now. I is a used car for crying out loud.

The leather seats are good but not great. The two front seats and backs have some dark lines on the far left and right panels closest to the driver and passenger doors. These edge panels are the only parts with these lines. I wouldn't call them cracks so I will decide to call them "character lines" (now I feel much better). I have read that Eagle1 Conditioner is the best and to stay away from glycerin products like Lexol. Of course the cleaner I have contains glycerin, wouldn't you know. So the Eagle1 search in on. I've also read that the conditioner is to be applied first and the cleaner is used afterward. As odd as this sounds, the guy was very persuasive. Then again Bernie Madoff was persuasive also (I've heard).

I can't find Eagle1 and Maguires is good so I grabbed it. I have come to the conclusion that we don't really clean leather. We massage leather with lotion and gently persuade it to give up it's dirt. And leather is hard to convince. I'm not sure I buy this way of doing it. I feel like grabbing a brush, some soap and scrubbing it.

I took the leap and grabbed the bottle of Lexol cleaner that I am not supposed to use because of evil glycerin. A small fingernail brush, a little water and a rag and go for it. Cleaning went faster and it cleans the stitching nicely. I will add some more Maguires later for conditioning.

My Genie Pro garage door was a trip to program into the Home Link of the DHS. Here are good instructions. He says after pushing the program button on the Genie door opener head, you must push/hold the Home Link button three times. (Not simply push but push in programing fashion.) It seems I only had to do it twice. But you will hear the garage door motor engage or the door move if you have not disengaged it so it doesn't matter except to know one push will not be enough.

I have now added an open plastic bowl of Folgers to my baking soda arrangement. I love the smell of coffee grounds. Even though the duct cleaner improved things greatly we are still not home free. Such large gains in such short time gives me confidence we can beat the cigarette smoke eventually. In a few weeks my snow bird-ness will be over and the coffee/soda will have several months to patiently devour ciggy critters and impregnate the DHS with caffeinated confection .

Smaller ozone machine worked well

Cadillacs are quite durable and well made. Electronics are usually the issue with cars these days. And on Cadillacs if something goes wrong, electronics or not, you pay an obscene premium. I am willing to take this risk in fair trade for the comfort. As for engine and drive train, I'm not worried. We do want to support Government Motors - don't we? It has been years since I drove anything but SUV, Pickup or Van so driving in the center lane with my DHS feels like driving in a drainage ditch, but I'll acclimate.

Lesabre Shopping

Notes to self on Lesabre Shopping

1. Check by intake manifold for coolant leaks.

2. Pull oil filler cap and check for brown foamy residue.

My BFF (Buick Friend Forever) says the plastic plenum melts eventually so he replaces it on every Lesabre, a cheap repair. Also the plastic intake gasket fails at around 80,000 miles so that is why to check for coolant leakage, a $700 +/- fix. Now I am finding some of the dashes fail and separate/buckle by the windshield in front of the driver. I found a nice Lesabre with a dash problem and I'm checking on how this can be fixed. Some say the dealership will do it for around $1200, yikes. But even a reasonable price of 10 hours fooling around with the dash will run $400 plus parts. This dash thing is not a happy situation. But if you can get the car cheaply enough, it may work out.

Looking at a 2001 Lesabre Limited with 103,000

4500 base

500 dash replacement

200 balance and rotate

500 two rear windows fix

200 plenum ?

500 intake gasket ?

6400

Radio Stream for Right

92.5 FOXNews is great for keeping up with Beck, Rush, Hannity, Lavin

Use http://streamingradioguide.com/ to find other times or hosts.

Get 20GB Cloud for 89 Cents

How to Get 20GB of Amazon Cloud Storage for 89 Cents - How-To Geek

If you’re looking for cheap and reliable online storage—who isn’t?—you can score a year 20GB of online storage from Amazon for under a buck. How? Read on as we highlight the perks of Amazon’s Cloud Drive and how to get nearly-free storage.

Comments: This does work. Simply set up your free 5GB of cloud storage. Then buy the 89 cent album and select store in the cloud. Your 5GB will jump to 20GB. After the year you will be charged the standard rate and will need to discontinue if the 20GB is not wanted. I just couldn't pass up doing it and besides, I always liked the sound of rain.

To upload files it appears one needs some lame "helper" app that I have not yet tried. But this cloud storage of music should be a big deal for digital music junkies.

Another Virtual Drive Program

OSFMount allows you to mount local disk image files (bit-for-bit copies of a disk partition) in Windows with a drive letter. You can then analyze the disk image file with PassMark OSForensics™ by using the mounted volume's drive letter. By default, the image files are mounted as read only so that the original image files are not altered.

Comments: This virtual disk is unusual in that it can create a ram disk upon which data can be written. I'm not sure why I would want this but it may have an application. Now, if the ram disk would be seen as a writable CD, I know it would be useful. But it is seen as a hard drive. Anyway, I am marking it for future reference.

Google Voice - Why Are You Waiting?

Edit: If you dial a number by clicking a link and then answering from the Gmail page, the number 4 on your keypad will appear dead. On incoming calls the 4 is used to turn on recording the call. To have the 4 work in normal fashion you must initiate the call through the chat phone link on the Gmail page.

I use Google Voice more and more. Cell service in my winter home is miserable so for my calling out, Google Voice is the answer. The Gmail dialer is primitive and limited but interfaces with Google Contacts nicely. Now we no longer have to cut and paste phone numbers that are not in our contacts. Left click a phone number on a web page or email and Google's dialer pops up with the number entered. This is a welcome enhancement.

My non-geek friends don't use Google Voice for some reason. They have no motivation to set up a phone number. They are missing out on a great function. Why search a location, find the number and use a phone? Just left click and call free.

Things you need.

Google Voice phone number.

Google Talk installed.

Speakers (I assume everyone has them) (if not then Logitech S-220 2.1)

Microphone (Logitech USB if you don't have a mic)

Google Voice has sophisticated functions within it's settings for handling calls and messages and I use some of them but this computer as phone functionality would be enough reason to have a GV number even if it did nothing else.

IRC Chat

I almost never use IRC Chat anymore, never did much, but the easiest way is Mibbit. Create your own chat room if you want. I'm marking it here to find it again if I should want IRC Chat for some odd reason. Mibbit is browser run and not Java so no installing anything.

SSD Drive Project

As of yet I am holding out on buying an SSD but I don't know how much longer I can hang on. So far the price/size issue has held me at bay but one of these days I will cave and my impulse buying will get the best of me. So I am starting to gather information.

Ed Bott has some basic info here on step by step install.

Sandforce seems to be a big deal so look for it.

Moving the profile to another drive is wise. (It would seem one would want some programs on the ssd so they load faster) Why move? To preserve space (among other things) on the smaller SSD drive.

One problem I have is my first install will be on an envida chipset and they do not play well together. Using the drivers from Microsoft is probably the answer.

Still holding out. Prices are below $2 per GB but I want it closer to $1, then I will get 120GB.

How to Use a PS3 Controller as a Joystick for Your Windows PC

Do you find it hard to steer your mouse and hit the right keyboard key to play PC games? If you happen to have PS3 controllers, why not use them as Joysticks to play games? from Howtogeek

I'm not a big joystick game guy but the last time I did it, I struggled to find a "good" joystick. This would have done it.

Vizio Black Screen of Death

Call me lucky I guess but I seem to get them all. We are accustomed to the Window's "Blue Screen of Death" and then their is the old IBM/Hitachi hard drive "Click of Death" but now I have the Vizio "Black Screen of Death". Neil Cavuto was happily describing Japan's most recent tragedy of nuclear explosion and my Vizio went black. Neil still sounded fine but he was nowhere in sight.

Googling tells me this is common Vizio behavior. There is no way for me to tell how common. This TV is not yet three years old. I guess the replacement will not be Vizio. This makes me sad because the new Vizios have so many features at such a great price. I wonder what hidden pitfalls Samsung has to offer me ... the "Explosion of Death" perhaps.

In the meantime I will see what the heavily accented Hispanic repair shop has to say. I am not expecting good news. Hasta la vista. He ended up being Indian (dots not feathers).

Now call me crazy but I'm thinking of a Philips, yikes.

Reviewers on Amazon love it. I know, why so small? It needs to be physically no wider than 39 inches to avoid remodeling the room or we would be looking at 55 inch screens and Neil's head would be truly scary.

I would love the wireless model (40PFL7705DV/F7) but for the extra money I could use another wireless media provider so when the TV assumes room temperature I would not lose everything in an all-in-one meltdown. My Bluray already streams Netfix. I wonder if the wired net model can use a wifi NIC? I suppose but don't know compatibility. They don't brag much about what is available online so I still think I'll just save the hundred bucks. Here is the underwhelming list of net availability.

Philips

40PFL7505D/F7 no net $598 Sam's

40PFL7705D/F7 is wired net $699 BB

40PFL7705DV/F7 is wireless $749 BB

My wife has the van so I can't go get one and it won't fit in my old BMW. I've downloaded the firmware update, so I'm ready so get on over to Sam's. Pick up toilet paper, smoked salmon and salsa while you are there:)

Got the toilet paper and the Philips. Reviews were right, the picture is crazy sharp. The 2 year old Vizio was good but this Philips is ridiculously good. It might show a little more reflection of light on the screen but I am anxious to try a bluray on it. The "soap opera" look takes a little getting use to but the images are stunningly clear and I can now finally verify that Geraldo Rivera is truly a Muppet character.

Get ready to lust after a bigger screen but then it wouldn't be $598 would it.

Sound is fine at the upper levels and voice is clear. Unfortunately the lower levels create a speaker rattle. I don't know if there is a blown woofer or what. I thought it may be rattling something that the TV is sitting on so I picked up the TV and held it. The rattling continued. Battle Star Galactica drives it crazy. I called Philips and they are sending out another TV by UPS. Let's hope it is new and not a refurb. or I will get cranky. I throw this one in the box and return it. Case reference number is 471133 which I need to label on the return box. I had to give them a credit card number which is reasonable being they are sending me a TV. I had already prepared myself to add a surround system but I do want the thing to work right.

Bad news on the Philips replacement, well, good and bad. The speakers worked fine but it was refurbished and an earlier model. I'm sending the replacement back to Philips. I called Sam's and they explained their 90 day return policy. I'm heading to Sam's today and all should be good. Lesson learned, I should have called Sam's first but I was convinced Sam's would give me the run around. Gotta love Sam's.

So I now have the replacement new Philips from Sam's and it does the same thing. Final analysis? The speakers are complete junk. I will eventually want a surround sound system anyway - for when my wife gets her 55 inch (I hope you are laughing at some of these) - so I will consider buying a surround sound system not impulsive and lavish but planning ahead and prudent.

I have yet to try playing files from the USB except to flash the firmware. The colors are beautiful. Would I buy this again? Yes, yes, yes.

Now if my Spanish friends can fix the black screened Vizio, I will have a TV for the bedroom. I'll let you know.

Universal Remote Codes Maybe it is in this list. The one measly code Comcast provided did not work so I used the search function on my Comcast remote. Then using the read code function my result is 0690.

My se habla espanol repair guy had an interesting take on things ... "they are all junk". I tend to agree but then again what to do. He said to always buy the extended warranty, which I never do. I guess I could throw on a three year warranty from SquareTrade and call it the cost of doing business. Sam's extended warranty cost was similar but I'm not sure of the length. I should call SquareTrade and see how I would fix it under warranty if something went wrong.

Still no word on cost of repair on the Vizio. He might have a used board. This could be an adventure.

Got a call this morning from some guy looking for a "Stevie", an obvious wrong number, turned out to be my repair guy calling about the "TV" - oops, no used board, new main board is $169 and labor is $100. That extended warranty is looking better. I said go ahead and am clearing out a bedroom home for my repaired Vizio.

Called Square Trade and I have 90 days from purchase to buy the warranty on a new item (30 days on used eBay). If the TV is over 37 inch you send it to them (they send a prepaid shipping box). If 38 inch plus it qualifies for in home repair. Either way there is a 5 day turn around guaranty or the warranty cost is refunded and the item is repaired for free. The skeptic in me doubts this will all work seamlessly but it at least their intentions are good. And 38 inch plus is definitely the way to go. I do not want to be packing up and shipping a TV but prepaid box would relieve some of the pain. Here is SquareTrade's FAQ.

Why hesitate? It is insurance and they are still in business. Either people are buying and not claiming even though broken or most electronics last the three years. On the other hand certain electronics could be worse than others but if I had some way to determine that, I would not buy it in the first place. So the decision is not as straight forward as it may seem. The last time I was tempted to buy a warranty was on my laptop. It has gone the distance and is still kicking so not buying the warranty was a win. Should I maintain my self insure philosophy? Still thinking .....

Envelope Printing Without Microsoft Office

Envelope printing can be a challenge. Any free software I have tried is clutzy/clunky. If you simply want an easy way to throw in a quick cut and paste address, why not just use a nice .rtf envelope template from Jarte templates. Grab some lable templates while you are at it. Jarte is a great little stand alone word processor in it's own right so give it a try while you are at it.

In the printer settings chose layout as "landscape" and media as "envelope". LibreOffice does this fine on my Brother HL-5250. Of course all printers have their quirks and settings so some tweaking may be needed. The hard part is getting the printer, which needs to have the envelope fed vertically into the front, to format correctly.

All versions of Microsoft Word have a little envelope wizard which works like magic but we are trying to wean ourselves from MS Office are we not? And of course we can always print the address on a sheet of paper, cut out the address with a scissors and tape it to the envelope - anything to keep from hand writing the address, or am I the only one.

WD 500GB USB3

I just bought a My Passport WD refurbished 500GB USB3 from WD for $49 + small shipping cost. The speed is impressive. To bad my laptop does not have USB3. The next laptop will have it. Downward spike are probably due to something accessing the drive while the test was running.

Ask Toolbar Removal

Even though Ask is dead (I think) the tool bar installs live on and removal is welcome. Here is a rundown on how to do it.

Virus Scanning Without Installing

Get ready to spreken ze Deutsch but this is an option if you are caught without a virus scanner. Stand alone functionality. On line options and/or download.
Microsoft's removal tool is already on your system, just type "mrt" in the search box.

You might want to start with (and I hate to say it) Norton

KillEmAll kill all unessential processes

Norton Power Eraser

Kaspersky Virus Removal

Kaspersky ISO Drop on Ventoy

HitmanPro
CrowdInspect
Type "mrt" in run command
Dr. Web
Ultra Virus Killer

AntiBotnet
Credit gHacks
Other possibilities
rkill.exe
OTL.exe
TDSS Killer
ComboFix
Remove Fake Scan Popup
Remember that removing a virus can destroy the OS ability to run so copy the important stuff off first and be ready to do a fresh format and install. Actually the data can likely be copied later but your choice. I would like a fresh system if my machine had been compromised.

Recover Browser Passwords

Another handy little program from Nirsoft.

WebBrowserPassView is a password recovery tool that reveals the passwords stored by the following Web browsers: Internet Explorer (Version 4.0 - 8.0), Mozilla Firefox (All Versions), Google Chrome, and Opera. This tool can be used to recover your lost/forgotten password of any Website, including popular Web sites, like Facebook, Yahoo, Google, and GMail, as long as the password is stored by your Web Browser.

I don't allow my Browsers to save passwords but occassionally one slips through. This find them for me so I can eliminate the records from my system. Occasionally a friend will ask for assistance in "speeding up" their system. We can preserve their passwords before cleaning with this program.

Ubuntu 10.10: List of Dislikes

1. No drag/drop url to desktop from Chrome

2. Printing from Chrome no "print selection" option (maybe only my driver).

Growing

Ubuntu: Drag Browser URL Shortcut To Desktop In Chrome

To drag a website url from the Chrome address bar to the desktop thus creating a shortcut just left click, drag and drop. A shortcut is not created but the web page is copied to the desktop. When you open the file you can only hope there is a live link within the html file to the website you seek. I miss the easy drag/drop of browser shortcuts.

Firefox has an extension available called Deskcut. Chrome has nada.

Subscribe To iTunes Podcasts Without iTunes

Finally I found a way to grab iTunes only podcasts without giving in to using iTunes. Feed Flipper will create a link that works in Google Reader. Don't pick an individual podcast. Copy the links of the main iTunes link and paste it into the flipper.

Slow Right Click Response

My right click response in Win7 Explorer became intollerably slow. I install so much junk all the time that I had no idea what may have caused it. Nirsoft to the rescue with ShellExView. The problem may be a Context Menu add on from some third party, even Microsoft. The first one I disabled was Windows Live ID Sign-in Helper. Disabling it seemed to do the trick. Sign-in Helper must have been installed when I installed some of the Windows Live Essentials.

Some of the key Nirsoft utilities are available in the Liberkey Ultimate download.

Reliability Monitor Windows 7

Reliability Monitor: I too often forget this feature of Windows 7. If you are having problems this might help trace it down. Just type "reliability" into the Start Menu and the link should come up. Windows 7 is an amazingly stable and forgiving operating system but stuff happens. Windows Events Viewer can give even more information but the Reliability Monitor is clear and simple.

Programs I Install Every Time (Must Have)

I use these programs on every computer.

Install - Update Windows Software (the moving target) = More complete list here.
Updated 19-APR-2023

Updates:
Portable Update for Windows (I've never had to use this but in a pinch could be handy)

Install
AllDup 4.0 if you need duplicate finder.
AOMEI Backupper is slick for clone and system backup.
Antivirus I use MS Security Essentials or Defender only unless trouble knocks.
ClickMonitorDCC (dims screen - Windows does laptops bur not desktop)
Disk Drill (If need data recovery)
Easy File Locker (can hide a folder) (I simply use 7zip with password)

f.lux is a great little automatic screen light adjuster. I think better than Windows red shift.
Google Chrome

Irfanview Image Viewer (make default in Windows settings) (Install Plug-ins)

LibreOffice  (good enough MS Office replacement)

Macrium Reflect more cloning options than AOMEI. (I currently use AOMEI Backupper)
Microsoft Security Essentials (excellent and silent) don't pay for antivirus (needs authentication)
PDF-xChange Viewer (because I have Adobe)
RichCopy Fastest Windows file copy
StartupMonitor (I say no a lot)
TotalMounter A virtual drive that can be written to.

Volumouse  portable or install a must have

Portable/Stand Alone
Aero if not working type "aero" in win search and choose "fix transparency"
Anydesk Remote desktop
AutoHotKey (portable or install) (hints)

CCleaner portable in Symenu
CrossCopy.net allows file transfer between browsers.
Defrag JKDefrag Disk Defragger (the old version) (Not for SSD, if SSD don't even have on system)

  Defraggler if SSD on system
DimScreen (great little screen dimming program) Better than DimScreen is ClickMonitorDDC 

Everything (fantastic search) I install and run as service. Hot key alt-s. now set cntl+enter
Fast Copy Just unzip, no need to uninstall.
FastStoneCapture is still the best for quick and slick. Drop a jpg on it and mark up.
Freeviewer can view most things and even edit. Use UniversalExtract for stand alone. Don't download from Freeviewer site.

Gimp (portable or install) Installed is easier to add fonts and scripts. Paint.net for quick mark up.

  Partha's Place or SamJ for portable Gimp or Beta versions.
KidKeyLock to lock keyboard for cleaning while computer on or when the grandchildren visit.

LaunchyQT
PhotoResizer Small, fast and effective batch photo resize.
Rainmeter Desktop Widgets, I find a portable version. Best on dual monitor setup.
Registry Finder
Shadow Explorer Recover files from Windows restore points
Snappy Driver Installer This thing is magic. The data base is huge 13 GB but worth it.
Sourceforge portable app list
SpaceSniffer (Old Space Monger is still faster and better)
Speccy portable
SpinBackup for your Google Account Backup
SSD Life grab the free portable version.  Or use brand specific like Intel's own program for SSD

Steganos LockNote great little encrypted, passworded file creator
Symenu Great for portable programs

Throttlestop (easier than RMClocl) Use on Notebooks especially for undervolting.
   Here is a Throttlestop guide
   You may need to install these separately
   https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-not-working.246574/#post-3970634
Total Mounter (virtual cd can burn iso to it)

Unknown Device Identifier could help in a pinch (Snappy Driver will be better)
UltraFileSearch (search for text within files) I seldom use

Wallpaper Welder (great for dual monitors but not Win10)
WinCDEmu Mounts ISO and runs

Wiztree is a quick file hog finder, extract for stand alone.

WNetWatcher (quickly reads all LAN connections in detail, rocket fast from NirSoft) current network

Browser Extensions (I turn these off items if not using regularly, just right click any extension in the task bar to manage them) Chrome is a master at handling extensions.
uBlock Origin on always

Last Pass (browser extension) on always

Pocket formerly Read It Later, I use the bookmark not the extension
The Camelizer
BehindTheOverlay 

On Line:
Pixlr graphics editor in a pinch it works. Can add to Google Drive.
Send Anywhere (send files)

Windows Repair
Tweaking Windows Repair If things are really screwy

Things to Try

(Thinking)

Folder Structure On Second Drive If SSD
(or if I want to keep OS small)
Drives are huge now so I keep User files on C:

If I have D: I back up the user file to D: (less likely to lose both drives)


Tweak Windows
Transparancy - leave it on unless your PC is hopeless, I like it but it is greedy.

I like the interface to pop with hair blowing speed.

Visual Effects
Turn off the magic words
animate, peek, fade, shadows, slide (if it moves, kill it)

Disable Hibernate (then check that hiber.sys is deleted from C:\) Use Spacemonger to check.

Levono SL410 Drivers

Mikogo is an easy-to-use cross-platform desktop sharing tool

http://www.mikogo.com/
I have installed but yet to try. Install was painless but had to stop the auto start request.

Mikogo needs to be installed to start a session but joining a session only requires clicking "join" at the top of the Mikogo site.

They emailed me relentlessly for weeks trying to get me to use it. Ammyy is the way to go.

Roll The Mouse Over A Window and Scroll Works

I'm trying WizMouse. Will report back. I don't really want another thing starting with Windows but it would be nice to have the mouse scroll wheel work when the pointer is over a window without activating the window. So far so good and something that Windows should natively do.

Here is what it uses for resources:

Credit: HowToGeeks

Use EasyBCD to Boot Ubuntu Dual Boot

Edit: A problem already. An update to Ubuntu already blew off the Windows boot and Grub took over. It gave me several choices and I must have chosen the wrong one. Because the wait was zero I booted directly into Ubuntu. No problem, I will just increase the wait and use Grub. I will just edit boot/grub/locale/grub.cfg. Well, that didn't work. Grub.cfg is read only and can't be changed. Here are all the entries in my Grub and I don't know why. At least I can still dual boot while I figure it out.

Following is the answer from here:

I don't mind the Grub2 boot loader but after installing Ubuntu twice I had double Ubuntu boot entries. I could have easily edited the boot config file in Ubuntu and deleted those entries. Instead I decided to use the Windows boot loader. Here is how to do it:

While in Windows:

Download EasyBCD. It is free and stand alone so no need to install it.

Check to see that EasyBCD sees the Windows 7 boot.

Write Master Boot Record

Add New Entry

Save settings and reboot into Ubuntu.

Now boot into Ubuntu:

If you have not installed Startup Manager, do it. This allows you to do minimal editing of Grub, just enough for what we are doing.

In Ubuntu if you have used the startup manager to boot Windows first, change that back to booting Ubuntu first.

When in Ubuntu run startup manager and set the wait time to zero. This way when you boot Ubuntu from the Windows boot loader, Grub doesn't wait. If you have not installed "startup manager" in Ubuntu, I would advise you to do so. You can change the wait time through terminal but using startup manager is easier to explain that using the terminal.

 

Allmyapps Windows Application Store for Desktop and Web Apps

Allmyapps Windows Application Store for Desktop and Web Apps

If you set up systems often, this is a great way to quickly install much of you favorite software.

Move the Users Directory in Windows 7

Move the Users Directory in Windows 7:

LifeHacker has a good explanation of using junctions

This seems to be an easier way to move profiles with junctions.

This is the same as Lifehacker but clearer (and the one I used)

This is the essentials:

2 cautions:
1. X:\ is probably the virtual repair drive so don't try to perform action with X as an option.
2. Two word lables need to be in quotations "Program Files", or you will get a syntax error.

Enter Recovery (be careful about drive designations)
For most users, this can be accessed by pressing F8 at boot, and choosing “Repair your computer,” but is also present on a Windows install DVD.

robocopy "E:\Users" "D:\Users" /COPYALL /MIR /XJ
robocopy "E:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" /COPYALL /MIR /XJ
robocopy "E:\Program Files (x86)" "D:\Program Files" /COPYALL /MIR /XJ

rmdir "E:\Users" /S /Q
rmdir "E:\Program Files" /S /Q
rmdir "E:\Program Files (x86)" /S /Q

mklink "E:\Users" "D:\Users" /J
mklink "E:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" /J
mklink "E:\Program Files (x86)" "D:\Program Files (x86)" /J

Now, reboot. If all goes well, you should see something similar to the image below. Both Program Files and Users directories still exist, but now possess a small shortcut icon.

I did this and it works. I am still confused about seeing the folders on C:  Yes the Users (etc) folder has a junction shortcut symbol but the folders under Useres do not. I presume they are symbolic.

Flash Drive Reconditioning

I was fooling around with a flash drive and created a 1GB partition on and 8GB to install Puppy Linux. Later I wanted to remove the partition and regain the 8GB contiguous space. Windows 7 wouldn't do it. I didn't try other partitioning software but I did find a solution called Bootice.exe. This is a stand alone solution. Just Google it and download from mainline software aggregator. The author is Chinese and his home site does not have an English version (but then again maybe something was lost in Google translation).

PendriveApps tells how to use it but his links are broken.

This will tell how to do it.

I Hate New Google Previews

In Firefox use this GreaseMonkey script to turn previews off.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/90394

There may be a way to tame them in Google settings.

Ubuntu 10.10 Easy - Slick - Pleasurable

Ubuntu keeps getting easier, better and bigger. If you put Ubuntu 10.10 on an 8 GB flash drive don't try to update, there is not enough room. That said, it doesn't need to update to work and be a handy repair platform for Windows disasters. But I must have done something wrong because my desktop setup is now only using 5.2GB of space.

I chose the 32 bit version even though I have 4GB of RAM. I wonder if Ubuntu 64 bit might have more driver issues. Anywho, I didn't want the frustration but 32 worked so well I wish I had done 64. This post enabled me to see the temp sensors. The GUI is Xsensors from Synaptic. On quad AMD it will not read, just like Core Temp for Windows it displays max temp 70.

Install lm-sensors like this:

Install lm-sensors:

sudo apt-get install lm-sensors

Then run:

sudo sensors-detect

there will be some questions and you can answer them all YES.
Now,use this command and you will get cpu temperature:

sensors

On my laptop I uninstalled Compiz to see if temps lowered. They did not. I was never successful in reinstalling Compiz and make it work. Lesson learned in the Compiz department. I did not uninstall/reinstall the graphics driver. That may have fixed it. So I installed 64 bit and everything even works better.

I used PendriveLinux's Universal USB Installer after downloading the Ubuntu ISO. I could have used Pendrive's MultibootISO but I wanted to install Ubuntu updates, which ended up too large anyway. But after you have Ubuntu installed on the flash drive, boot it and on the Ubuntu desktop is an install button. Use it to install to a machine hard drive. For my laptop I set of the flash drive from Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator. Everything worked great.

Make sure to have a free partition. I set aside 100GB, overkill I know and 20-30GB would have been enough. I have 5.2GB used. When Ubuntu formats the space I chose to mount root "/" but don't know if that is good or bad but it made sense to me. But be sure to reduce the size of the space and leave room for a swap partition. I left two and one half the amount of my ram. I did not change the default file system.

Be sure somewhere during the install to check the box for 3rd party mp3 support to avoid looking for it later. But if you forget, just open Rythembox with an mp3 and you will be directed to the necessary files. I chose to update during the install and Youtube played without a problem so Adobe Flash was covered.

Numlock not employing at startup has always bugged me. The fix is in keyboard options and explained in this post.

If you are a tweaker, install Ubuntu Tweaker by these instructions. I want my window controls on the right ... right?

If you want the cube thingy see this video. May be available anyway but this adds features.

Want the real Chrome? Go here. Then use sync and you are right at home (yes, I do believe Google is evil).

Install Gnome Do for a Launchy substitute. (Use Tweaker)

Logitech USB desk mic worked (after I selected it in sound options).

Webcam worked in Skype.

The Brother printer driver was found and installed easily.

Network interface installed automatically.

Video card drivers installed without my input. (Then upgrade System, Admin, Additional Drivers)

What are the chances I will get my Fujitsu ScanSnap to work? I haven't tried yet. Gscan2pdf works but is some slower than the Windows software. The images are good.

Another Linux mystery has been accessing a Windows network. At first I thought, here we go again, when I clicked Networks and got nowhere. I went to the Home folder and made a new folder. Then I right clicked the folder and shared it. I followed the prompts and the share to Windows network was all done for me. Linux likes Windows networks to be named "Workgroup" so if you have another fancy nomenclature it will not work without alterations.

There is simply no reason for the average person not to use Ubuntu, unless you consider they probably are using the "free" Windows residing on the Dell they purchased.

I am writing this with a Linux blogging module delightfully named "Drivel". (Which is apparently oblivious to paragraphing so I had to add them by editing the post.) I am installing Bloglio now.


Bloglio would not work because of some password thingy - so OK nothing is perfect.

Use Scribefire Chrome extension.

Here is a run down on install.

Edit Grub for Windows default startup.

sudo apt-get install startupmanager

Go to System, Admin, Startup-Manager

Install Ubuntu Tweak

After installing Ubuntu Tweak

Within Tweak

Go to Applications and install

Banshee (iTunes like player)

Cheese (web cam app) (too dark on my laptop)

Docky (I don't like docs)

Gimp (My favorite image editor loads fast in Linux)

Gnome Do (a Launchy type app)

Gnome MPlayer

VLC

Go to Desktop

Go to Desktop, Window Manager and put controls on right

This is a good video for setting up Compiz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y772Zrjwgws

Go to Ubuntu Software

Install compiz simple compiz

go to synaptic

compiz fuzion plugins extra

reboot

Go to System, Pref, Compiz

Desktop Cube

Rotate Cube

Wobbly Windows (would it be Linux without wobbly?)

and all the rest in the video