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How to use a split archive over multiple hard drives

April 18th, 2011 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in How Tos, Offline, Tech

This is something I’d wondered about for quite a while, and wasn’t able to do until now!

With Windows 7 there are a number of changes to how folders work.  You are now able to make ‘symbolic’ folder links among other cool things.

This allows you to congregate files from multiple locations and have windows recognize them as actually being in a location different than the one they are actually in (for example if you have a split archive with different parts on different hard drives you’d be able to make a “symbolic folder” to view them as if they were all on the same hard drive).

  1. You’ll need a tool called Link Shell Extension.  This will add shell context menus to your right click context menus in Windows Explorer (giving you an option to make Symbolic Links and folders etc).   While this feature is new in windows 7 it is kind of buried and you would normally need to use the command line to utilize it.  Link Shell Extension provides a graphical front end to make this tool more useable in everyday situations.
  2. Second of all, you will need to create a target folder to “paste” your symbolic links into, so Windows will be “tricked” into thinking that your files are actually there.  I guess that’s the best way of explaining it.
  3. After creating your target folder wherever, navigate back to where your file is actually stored, and then right click and select Pick Link Source.
  4. Navigate to your target folder and select Drop As and then select Junction (this was in instructions for linking folders; for your files you may need to try other options).
  5. In your target folder you will see your file again with a little overlay icon. 
  6. Repeat for all other parts of your archive.

Thanks to unifex from SevenForums.com for providing me with this knowledge!

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Fix Boot Problems with a Windows XP Repair Install

October 4th, 2010 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in How Tos

Having trouble booting into windows with hal.dll errors and the like?  Here’s how to get rid of your problems.  Make sure you back up before you do it.

Things you need

  • Your Windows XP CD
  • About an hour of free time
  • Computer with Boot problems

Read Here

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All HP Pavilion dv6753ca XP Drivers

September 29th, 2010 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in Tech

When I first got my HP Pavilion DV6753ca computer, it had Vista installed on it!  This was back in 2008.

I felt like downgrading to XP, because I liked the experience on XP better, and one of my favorite applications wouldn’t run on Vista, but would only work on XP.  So I downgraded, but I soon realized that HP, the manufacturer, didn’t really provide any XP drivers for this laptop!  I was really thrown for a loop!

After HOURS and HOURS of endless searching, I’ve managed to compile an almost complete list of all the drivers you need, and I’ve included downloads also, so you can get them all of this one page!  BOOKMARK IT!  Some of these drivers are out of date, like the nVidia drivers, but they work just fine, and I don’t think there are any newer version available for XP, so if you really want XP you’ll have to put up with that.

Otherwise, you could go with Windows 7 .  What’s handy about installing Windows 7 on this particular laptop is that you don’t have to really manually install any drivers at all!  Once you’ve installed windows, it automatically installs all the drivers for you, including your video drivers!

The DRIVERS:

nVidia Graphics Driver

SM56 Modem Driver

Realtek HD Audio Driver

Realtek PCI-E Ethernet Driver

Intel Chipset Driver

Lightscribe Driver

Synaptics Touchpad Driver

Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

I hope that all of your driver installations run smoothly!  Please comment here if this works for you, or comment if you have a problem.

Thanks!

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MSN Messenger Now Playing Plugin for Foobar2000 v1.1

September 26th, 2010 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 8 Comments | Filed in Apps, Music

After much searching, this is a plugin that works with MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, but also works with the latest version of Foobar2000 (v1.1 at the time of writing)!  None of the other plugins I tested would work because they were out of date.

Enjoy!  Let me know it works for you!

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000:Components_0.9/WLM_Notifier_%28foo_wlm%29

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Remove Ads in Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch

December 13th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 2 Comments | Filed in Tech

apatchThe advertisements in Windows Live Messenger, the popular instant messaging program, can be very irritating, especially when you just want a clean look for your chat windows and contact list.

There is a way to remove the ads, using a free program called A-Patch for Windows Live Messenger.

This program is 166 kB, and it doesn’t require an installation, so it simply patches your Messenger install, and then it is done!  You can then erase the executable from your computer, and then nobody will know that it was ever there, except for the fact that you’ll notice that the ads are gone from Messenger.

Here’s the list of all the possible options that you can choose to patch using this tool:

  • Remove Advertisements (inside Contact List)
  • Remove What’s Hot Section
  • Remove Nudge Delay (allow you to spam your buddies with nudges :D )
  • Disable Nudge Shake (disables the window shake when nudges are received)
  • Accept more than 3 files (transfers) at a time
  • Polygamy (log in to two messenger accounts at once
  • Shorten Status Info in Info Bar
  • Remove Advertisements (inside Convo)
  • Remove “says” text (english only!)
  • Remove Billing Info Menus
  • Disable Photo Sharing (so people can’t spam you with photos)

This tools violates Microsoft’s EULA, so we’re not responsible if you get in trouble!

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Change Windows 7 Logon Background

November 1st, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in How Tos
Pic stolen from blogsdna.com

Pic stolen from blogsdna.com

One really neat way to customize windows to your personal preference is to change your logon screen background.  In Windows 7, this is possible with no additional software, but that is a bit tricky.

We’re going to show you how to perform this with a very small software tool that is virus-free.  This tool is called Windows 7 Account Screen Editor.

You can choose any image you’d like and set it as your logon screen!

If the image you choose is too large, then it will automatically resize it for you!

This handy little tool is a great download, and when you’re done with it, because there’s no installing required, you can simply delete the tool!  You don’t need to leave it on your hard drive because the feature is built into windows!

Download it today!

Read more on DeviantArt…

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Downgrading from WMP 12 to 11 in Windows 7

October 20th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 5 Comments | Filed in How Tos

Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7 has a new UI that doesn’t include as many sleek transparency features as WMP 11 did, and Microsoft also for some reason removed the Advanced Tag Editor, one of my favorite features because my WMP Custom Album Art tutorial uses it, and because you can edit a whole albums tags in batch.

I see no real benefit to using Windows Media Player 12, as Windows Media Player 11 seems, at least to me, to be a much more well-rounded, and better looking too, music / video organizer and player.

How to install Windows Media Player 11 onto Windows 7:

  1. Go to the start menu, type services.msc and hit enter.

  2. Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.

  3. Install this registry edit (zipped): Take Ownership Context Menu Hack.

  4. Now take ownership of these items by selecting them in Windows Explorer and then right-clicking them and selecting Take Ownership in the context menu:All files in “Program Files\Windows Media Player\” folder
    All files starting with “wmp” in System32 folder
    wmploc.dll.mui in “System32\en-us\” folder.

  5. Download Windows Media Player 11 for Windows 7 and install. If you get an error message saying that wmploc.dll.mui is in use by a process, then kill sidebar.exe.  You’ll need to restart after install Windows Media Player.

  6. Run regedit and delete the key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Setup\Installed Versions”.

  7. If you want a good Windows 7 theme for WMP 11, check this one out:

    http://bogo-d.deviantart.com/art/7-for-Windows-Media-Player-11-105796300

    This skin is quite amazing – it combines the best elements of both WMP 11 and 12 to make an amazing looking skin.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my tutorial, and enjoy your newly installed WMP 11 on Windows 7!

A better version of this tutorial: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-get-windows-media-player-wmp-taskbar-toolbar-back-in-windows-7/

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How to fix MySQL Error 1067

October 14th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 1 Comment | Filed in Tech

When installing MySQL, if you install it in a non-standard directory, then you’ll need to specify where your defaults file’s path is before you can run MySQL or install the MySQL service, otherwise you’ll get Error 1067.

First let’s open up the command prompt.  Navigate to your MySQL install folder and find wherever mysqld.exe is.  Then run this:

mysqld –remove MySql

That will uninstall the MySQL service.
Now reinstall the service with the defaults-file parameter:

mysqld –install <service name> –defaults-file=<full path of “my.ini” file>

For example:

mysqld –install MySql –defaults-file=c:\mysql\my.ini

Enjoy your error-free MySQL install.

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Windows 7 – Is it worth it?

October 1st, 2009 by Michael Louie | 1 Comment | Filed in Tech

Some people have heard the new name, Windows 7, Codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna. Lately, you might have heard that you can get Windows 7 for free when buying a new PC or You can upgrade to Windows 7 at a discount price. But is this new OS worth it? (note: light review)

So we all know about the lows Vista set with its paranoia over everything and multiple errors / driver issues and benchmarks at all new lows. This of course made many stay back at home with their Xp computers.

But little do people notice the great things about Vista.  With its new Aero feature, improved support for 64 bit and multicore processors, peer to peer file transferring and sharing and etc. These new features would set the path for the next OS to improve on these new programs, features and layouts.

File:Windows 7.png

(screenshot of Windows 7)

This here is the new Windows 7. There are some obvious differences…..obviously. Some parts you may recognize such as the start menu but you notice our classic taskbar looks a little different. This new little gadget is called Aero Peek. Now unlike the previous aero which shows a preview of the window when hovering above it, Aero peek will show you the windows all by hovering over the ONE app. So lets say you have 3 internet explorer windows open. Instead of hovering over one at a time to find which one you are looking for, you can hover over the internet explorer icon in the taskbar and you will see all three in realtime and if you hover over the preview, you can get a large screen preview .     =)

File:Windows 7 Taskbar.png

Another New feature is the Snap In feature. Open two windows drag them on the two sides of the screen and they will adjust to fit perfectly in your monitor ,and don’t worry  the pesky messages that black out your screen just to ask the redundant question of permission are gone.

Now for the features that you won’t notice right away. So first you get improved accessories, boot times and performance on multi-core processors. (yippe for me and my core 2 quad) Your control center has been renovated with extra items such as Clear type and Gadgets. Also, for the sake of XP which kept windows alive in my opinion will have its cousin in Windows 7. Which will be Windows XP Mode which will basically run XP in a virtual machine.  Read more about Windows XP Mode.

To be honest, Windows 7 isn’t going to be as revolutionary as Vista was yet it still improves on the great features of Vista.

I will be definitely upgrading to Windows 7 because of the improved benchmarks and benefits it features.  It has many organizational upgrades too.  I wouldn’t lie to you. Its up to you whether you are going to upgrade but beware….Windows is back.

The planned release of Windows 7 for consumers is set for October 22, 2009.

Watch Windows 7 on Youtube

If you want to, you can read even more here: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/windows7-seven-reasons/

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Make a Webcam Timelapse Easily

June 18th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 2 Comments | Filed in Apps, How Tos, Tech

Wanted to make a timelapse of you doing something, such as putting lego blocks together or eating a cheesecake?  Now you can, and quite easily too, with the Timershot Powertoy for XP.

Requirements

  • Windows XP (I’m not sure that the Timershot powertoy works on vista – this is only tested with XP)
  • Timershot Powertoy
  • Windows Movie Maker (included with XP)
  • USB Webcam / USB Digital Camera

Steps

  1. Download the Powertoy and install it – pretty straightforward.
  2. Go to Start Menu > All Programs > Powertoys for Windows XP > Timershot and launch the application.
  3. The program will most likely start taking pictures right away.  Don’t worry about it.  Just set the capture rate as one picture every second, and set it not to just take one photo and replace that one, but to take individual photos each time, and so that way you’ll end up with the “frames” for your timelapse.
  4. Set a folder for the pictures to go into (not just your desktop – that will be messy !!! Remember , it takes 1 picture every second!!
  5. Now, point the webcam where you want it to take the timelapse , and away you go!
  6. Open up Windows Movie Maker (Start, All Programs, Windows Movie Maker)
  7. Go to the Tools menu, click Options, and click the Advanced tab.
  8. In the “Default Durations” section, decrease the Picture Duration to the lowest amount possible, and click OK.
  9. In the Capture Video section inside the “Movie Tasks” pane, click Import Pictures.
  10. Go to the folder you saved all your timelapse photos into, and import all the photos in that folder.
  11. Now, highlight all the pictures in the “Collections” pane (which is just right of the “Movie Tasks” pane) by pressing Ctrl + A, and then drag them to the timeline / storyboard below.
  12. In the Edit Movie section of the “Movie Tasks” pane, click View Video Effects (or just Effects, in Vista).
  13. Now, in the timeline / storyboard, click one of the pictures and press Ctrl + A to select all the pictures.
  14. In the “effects” window, click on “Speed Up” and hit “CTRL + D” to apply it to all the frames you have selected.If everything went correctly, each frame will now have a star at the bottom, indicating it has an effect paired with the frame. You can hit CTRL + D as many times as you want, if the video is still too slow.
  15. Now just hit Ctrl + P to save your movie, and share it with your friends or upload it to YouTube!

You can view  a couple sample timelapses I made myself:

Making Lego Structure

Cleaning up Lego Timelapse

Enjoy! Thanks to onlinephototutorials.com for the “Speed Up” enhancement to this tutorial.   Also, thanks to Microsoft for their great Windows XP Timershot PowerToy.
Jul 25th 2008
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Time lapse videos show motion over a long period of time. Set the camera on a tripod, switch it to manual focus, and you’re pretty much done. The hardest part is finding interesting things that will change over time, clearly. Many things change over time, in that you take one photo and they’re gone the next. However, things like clouds or stars are interesting as they move fluidly.

The goal of this tutorial is not taking the photos to make the timelapse, rather assembling the photos into a timelapse of high quality. Step One Before importing, set Windows Movie Maker’s “default image duration” to it’s fastest setting of 0.125 at “Tools > Options > Advanced”. First, you must import the necessary images into Windows Movie Maker. Hit “CTRL + I” and navigate to the folder where they are stored. Since Windows Movie Maker doesn’t support RAW or sizes about 1080p [1920x1080], I suggest you set your camera to the smallest JPEG size at “fine” or “high” quality. This means it won’t take as long to import all the images to your computer, it’ll take less space, and Windows Movie Maker will be faster. Import the JPEGs Step Two Under the “imported media” window, click on an image and hit CTRL + A to select all. Hold and drag the images into the timeline or storyboard at the bottom of the screen. Drag to Storyboard Step Three At the left hand pane, select the “effects” option under the “edit” category. Select "Effects" Now, at the bottom of the screen, select the “Storyboard” view. Select one of the images and hit “CTRL + A” to select all. Select "Show Storyboard" and select all

Step Four

In the “effects” window, click on “Speed Up” and hit “CTRL + D” to apply it to all the frames you have selected.

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