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Showing posts from October, 2008

RoboCop[y] at your service

Back in the days of Windows 98, I used to use Xcopy and Xcopy32 to copy files at the Command Prompt. The built-in simple copy command was not as powerful and customizable as Xcopy. A few minutes ago, I tried these commands in Vista's command prompt, due to a DVD drive problem that lets me read the disc contents via the Command Prompt, but not through Windows Explorer. Xcopy32 no longer exists, but Xcopy does. As I was looking through the /? help page of Xcopy, a certain line in the beginning said: NOTE: Xcopy is now deprecated, please use Robocopy. Wow, something new. RoboCopy? Ok let's try that... robocopy /? Almost two and a half screens of help appeared! There are a lot more options than Xcopy, and the options are neatly arranged in groups. Certain options that are new and interesting include controlling what details about the file are copied (dates, permissions, etc.), excluding certain files or folders from the copy and copying directory structure (not files)

Installing Flash and Shockwave in Firefox Portable when using restricted computers

If you have just installed Firefox Portable, you would find that there is no Flash or Shockwave in the installation. The official website has a Support page explaining how to get these two in the installation. These procedures assume that you either have access to a computer that has a normal Firefox installation, or that you have Administrator privileges. And oh, the Flash extension does not work with the new version of Firefox. However, you may be using a computer that you have very limited access on. For example a school or university library computer that is designed to let the students use the Internet. In such cases, the installation of Shockwave will fail due to having no Admin privileges. And you will have nowhere to copy Flash from, since a restricted computer will not usually have a normal Firefox installation, and you may not have access to C drive of the computer. In such cases when you are using a heavily restricted computer, here's the sure-fire way to get Flash,

Internet Explorer Icon Missing

Perhaps your Internet Explorer icon on the desktop is missing. I'm talking about the real icon, not an ordinary shortcut. The real Internet Explorer icon has the advantage that you can right-click it to start without add-ons or open the Internet Options dialog box. You have tried everything you could find on the Internet about fixing this problem, but nothing seems to work. But you may have missed one solution which is not talked about much. Just open regedit and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}\ShellFolder You will find a DWord value called Attributes . If its data is 0x00100024, this is causing the problem. You should change to 0x00000024 or just 24 (hexadecimal). If you're afraid to mess with the Windows registry, or are not a tech savvy computer user, you can use a file that will automate the process for you. It also includes all the other solutions you may have already tried, along with the one mentioned above. This page here has a tip

Delete multiple posts on Blogger

As mentioned in previous post, I had been uploading Friendster posts to Blogger to help my friend, and suddenly I ran into a problem. I accidentally posted some 50 posts twice, so they started appearing in doubles in the blog. [By the way, I got the 50/day limit upped to 300/day by emailing Trevor at Google.] So now, the dilemma is to delete the duplicate copies. Blogger, after so long, is yet to give an option by which we can select multiple posts and just click a Delete button, to trash them all. Their standpoint is to avoid accidentally deleting a lot of posts. Maybe it's good. Except in times like this. To solve the problem, I found a software called "w.bloggar" (It is spelt bloggar, not blogger.) It is mainly a software to create and manage posts in your blog, but I got it to delete multiple posts. I downloaded the portable version as I would not be using it all the time. You can get w.bloggar here . Note that when you are in the opening Account Setup wizard

Importing posts from WordPress or Friendster to Blogger

Blogger is currently working on an Import/Export tool. As of now, it only works within the Blogger family and does not work with Friendster or WordPress exports. Meanwhile, after a lot of research I learnt about a Java application that can migrate WordPress posts to your Blogger. Now, the export of a Friendster blog is fully compatible with this application since Friendster blogs are based on WordPress. How do you use this application? It's quite simple but not really for novices. If you're quite bad at using computers, you'd be better off asking your closest geek to help you out. Of course, show him/her this post! First, you need to make sure that the latest version of JRE or JDK is installed on your computer. JRE means Java Runtime Environment (or quite simply Java). JDK means Java Development Kit (you will only be installing this if you're programming in Java). If you have JRE, that's fine. You don't need JDK. Now you need to find out if typing "

Worst Customer Service

If there's ever an award for the worst customer service, it should go for Friendster. I have sent them many feedback and comments, and reported problems, but they have never cared enough to get their fingers on the keyboard to answer my feedback and problems personally. All they would do is sit there with one hand on the mouse, and copy/paste one of the pre-fabricated answers. And those answers sometimes don't even relate to the problem I'm reporting. Are they really a lazy bunch of snobs? And I have made some really useful suggestions in the past two years, but even now, they have never implemented any of them. They are wasting their time in useless stuff like Applications. Friendster, oh dear, stop copying MySpace and Facebook and start doing something useful like giving users what they want!

Messing with the UAC - the Admin Approval Mode

Initially when I got Vista, I disabled UAC completely in my account and turned off Security Center alerts. However, my friend suggested that he can keep the UAC enabled, yet not get the annoying prompts. He did this by enabling the built-in Administrator account and using it. So I thought of fiddling with the hidden settings of UAC to find out if I can re-enable UAC yet get rid of those prompts in my account with administrator privileges. This is my own account, not the built-in Administrator account. The hidden settings can be accessed by typing in secpol.msc in the Start menu, Run dialog or a command prompt. They are under Local Policies > Security Options . All the settings concerning UAC start with the words "User Account Control." Note: secpol.msc may not be available in Home Premium or lower. After fiddling around, I found out that what my friend thought he is doing, is actually wrong. One of the settings here is "Admin Approval Mode for the Built-

Did I just notice that?

I'm a regular user of Firefox. But while I was helping someone with their computer, I stumbled upon the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta . So I tried it in my computer. And so far, I like it! New features I have taken notice include the InPrivate browsing . I used Google Chrome for a short while but I dropped it due to instability. However I miss the Incognito feature of Chrome which allowed me to browse websites without leaving a trace. IE8's InPrivate is the answer. It also lets you browse privately by not leaving traces of your browsing on your computer. Close the InPrivate window and IE8 forgets everything in that window. Another simply blew my mind as it was the last thing I expected IE to have: A find toolbar! IE had always been stuck with the infamous Find dialog which just sticks like a sore thumb out when I press Ctrl-F. I hated this, and I always loved how neatly Firefox shows a find toolbar at the bottom of the page. IE8 surprises you with something very similar