The Windows and Windows Software Megathread - The Something Awful Forums

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware / Software Crap > The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

Ephphatha: Dec 18, 2009; Howdy howdy howdy.

Purefish posted:

Something that has been a big problem on my new install of Win 7 SP1: When I Alt-Tab, the Alt-Tab menu gets blocked by the things I am switching between. Any one have a solution for this?

Holy poo poo, I just tried this and I have the same problem. Never noticed it before.

Edit: Also, I found a program which looks roughly equivalent to the payware program I was looking at before. 7capture takes screenshots of windows with the background removed and proper transparency preserved. Completely free as well. Only thing I think it doesn't do is replace the Win7 snipping feature or capture menus correctly.

Ephphatha fucked around with this message at May 9, 2011 around 08:18

# ? May 9, 2011 08:11

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# ? May 26, 2013 07:30

Sizzlechest: May 7, 2007

I didn't see this in the OP...

Is there any advantage to NOT letting Windows 7 set up a 100MB-200MB system partition for recovery? I don't understand why people bother to do this. I'm going to be installing Windows 7 on a SSD, if that makes any difference.

# ? May 9, 2011 14:14

Anti-Hero: Feb 26, 2004; I was raised by a cup of coffee.

Does anyone have any useful resources for creating junctions in Win7? I have a 40GB SSD that I use for my Win7 drive which has gotten more and more bloated, even though I don't install applications on it. I would like to move some of that data over onto my media drive, specifically the Users and Program Files directory.

# ? May 10, 2011 00:49

Mak0rz: Aug 2, 2008; THE WHIPPED CREAM GENOCIDE BROUHAHA

So we all know that you can make your wallpaper collection rotate in windows 7, but is there any way to do that with Aero Glass colors?

# ? May 10, 2011 02:47

hirvox: Sep 8, 2009

Anti-Hero posted:

Does anyone have any useful resources for creating junctions in Win7?

I use Link Shell Extension.

# ? May 10, 2011 02:52

c0burn: Sep 2, 2003; The KKKing

Sizzlechest posted:

I didn't see this in the OP...

Is there any advantage to NOT letting Windows 7 set up a 100MB-200MB system partition for recovery? I don't understand why people bother to do this. I'm going to be installing Windows 7 on a SSD, if that makes any difference.

The only reason not to have it would be if you want to use Truedisk whole disk encryption or something.

# ? May 10, 2011 07:44

Anjow: Aug 14, 2006

I use Outlook 2010 at work. The reading pane, where the messages are listed, shows the time only for messages which arrived today, the day of the week for those that arrived in the last week, and the full date for those over a week old. This is the case when it's down the left hand side of the message display.

Is there a way to make it show the full date for all of them, without having to hover over it and without having to have it set so it is above the message display?

# ? May 10, 2011 08:18

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

c0burn posted:

The only reason not to have it would be if you want to use Truedisk whole disk encryption or something.

It works with Truecrypt full disk encryption - I know this because that's exactly how my laptop is setup.

# ? May 10, 2011 10:39

Ephphatha: Dec 18, 2009; Howdy howdy howdy.

Turns out there's a pretty awesome open source application that takes incredible quality images.

ZScreen. Need to gently caress with the settings a bit to force it to take png images but you end up with screenshots with perfect transparency, including drop shadows and the aero effect. Also sits in the tray (if you set it to) and properly responds to global hotkeys. I know someone suggested a $40 app before but this pretty much does everything advertised in that program, as well as some extra bloat.

# ? May 10, 2011 13:51

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; "That which can be destroyed by the truth should be." Do not flinch from experiences that might destroy your beliefs. The thought you cannot think controls you more than thoughts you speak aloud.

Ephphatha posted:

Turns out there's a pretty awesome open source application that takes incredible quality images.

ZScreen. Need to gently caress with the settings a bit to force it to take png images but you end up with screenshots with perfect transparency, including drop shadows and the aero effect. Also sits in the tray (if you set it to) and properly responds to global hotkeys. I know someone suggested a $40 app before but this pretty much does everything advertised in that program, as well as some extra bloat.

zscreen is awesome. I wanted to recommend it earlier but I was on my phone and couldn't remember what it was called.

I use it all the time to take a cropped screenshot and auto upload to my ftp and then it puts the URL in my clipboard.

# ? May 10, 2011 16:10

WorkingStiff: Jul 5, 2005

rolleyes posted:

It works with Truecrypt full disk encryption - I know this because that's exactly how my laptop is setup.

I'm assuming he was referring to using TrueCrypt rather than BitLocker encryption. BitLocker needs a second partition because the pre-startup verification is stored on the 100MB partition.

# ? May 10, 2011 18:11

Tab8715: May 20, 2006

How the hell did this happen, and more importantly how do I fix it? I'm logged as as a typical admin user...

# ? May 11, 2011 16:56

Sir Unimaginative: May 2, 2007; I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars

Tab8715 posted:

How the hell did this happen, and more importantly how do I fix it? I'm logged as as a typical admin user...

This is intended behavior. It MAY go away if you log in as "Administrator", but this would be senseless. It should also go away if you monkey with UAC, but this is also senseless.

# ? May 11, 2011 17:14

mobn: May 23, 2005; by Ozmaugh

Sir Unimaginative posted:

This is intended behavior. It MAY go away if you log in as "Administrator", but this would be senseless. It should also go away if you monkey with UAC, but this is also senseless.

I don't think he's talking about the shield, he's talking about the fact that there's only one item in his 'new' menu.

# ? May 11, 2011 18:41

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

Which, depending on what folder he's in, could well be the intended behaviour. Example: right click inside the Program Files (or Program Files (x86)) folder and see what you get.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:06

Anjow: Aug 14, 2006

Is there a way to recover a deleted partition? A partition was deleted in error as part of the Windows Server 2003 installation process.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:29

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

I believe so long as you know exactly where it was on the disk you can simply add it back to the partition table with the correct file system ID. You'll probably have to boot into a Linux live CD/flashdrive and use one of the Linux filesystem tools to do it though, I don't know if it's possible from the Windows installer.

Oh, and if you really value what's on the disk then for the love of god image it before you do anything else.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:40

dpbjinc: Dec 30, 2009; Ships were made for sinking;
Whiskey made for drinking;
If we were made of cellophane
We'd all get stinking drunk much faster!

You can use TestDisk to locate and recover partitions.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:43

Tab8715: May 20, 2006

rolleyes posted:

Which, depending on what folder he's in, could well be the intended behaviour. Example: right click inside the Program Files (or Program Files (x86)) folder and see what you get.

Same thing everywhere, no idea what the hell I did? Last program I installed was notepad++ and Gmail Notifications. No Viruses.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:46

Frozen-Solid: Aug 25, 2004; Behind you, Cobb! Stay alert!

Tab8715 posted:

Same thing everywhere, no idea what the hell I did? Last program I installed was notepad++ and Gmail Notifications. No Viruses.

Go to C:\Users\<your login>\ and then right click. It will be vastly different than anywhere else, with no shield and lots more options under new. Windows 7 locks functionality out of many folders, forcing you to go through UAC to get write access.

# ? May 11, 2011 19:49

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

Tab8715 posted:

Same thing everywhere, no idea what the hell I did? Last program I installed was notepad++ and Gmail Notifications. No Viruses.

Even in your own user folder? What happens if you open your documents folder under your user folder and right click there?

# ? May 11, 2011 19:52

Anjow: Aug 14, 2006

dpbjinc posted:

You can use TestDisk to locate and recover partitions.

Bugger me, that was easy. Thanks very much, very embarrassing disaster averted.

# ? May 11, 2011 20:21

Anti-Hero: Feb 26, 2004; I was raised by a cup of coffee.

I may just buy a larger SSD to replace my current 40GB drive. What's a good (preferably free-ware) disk cloning program so I can transfer my Win7 install over?

# ? May 11, 2011 20:30

FISHMANPET: Mar 3, 2007

Can Win 7 be installed in a logical partition? Or can I combine the main install with that 100mb SYSTEM partition it creates?

# ? May 11, 2011 20:32

c0burn: Sep 2, 2003; The KKKing

Anti-Hero posted:

I may just buy a larger SSD to replace my current 40GB drive. What's a good (preferably free-ware) disk cloning program so I can transfer my Win7 install over?

Macrium Reflect

# ? May 11, 2011 20:33

Sizzlechest: May 7, 2007

FISHMANPET posted:

Can Win 7 be installed in a logical partition? Or can I combine the main install with that 100mb SYSTEM partition it creates?

It's my understanding that if you create a partition BEFORE you do the install or if you delete the system partition after it's created during the install, then windows will put the recovery info with the regular partition and not create the system partition.

I asked earlier why anyone would want to do this, but I never got an answer.

# ? May 11, 2011 20:35

WorkingStiff: Jul 5, 2005

Sizzlechest posted:

It's my understanding that if you create a partition BEFORE you do the install or if you delete the system partition after it's created during the install, then windows will put the recovery info with the regular partition and not create the system partition.

I asked earlier why anyone would want to do this, but I never got an answer.

You did get an answer, albeit indirectly. You must have the 100MB partition if you are going to use Windows 7's full disk encryption Bit Locker.

# ? May 11, 2011 20:38

Sizzlechest: May 7, 2007

WorkingStiff posted:

You did get an answer, albeit indirectly. You must have the 100MB partition if you are going to use Windows 7's full disk encryption Bit Locker.

My question was the converse. Why the heck SHOULDN'T you let Windows create the partition? Why are people going out of their way to outsmart the installer?

# ? May 11, 2011 21:01

Factor Mystic: Mar 19, 2006; Baby's First Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Sizzlechest posted:

My question was the converse. Why the heck SHOULDN'T you let Windows create the partition? Why are people going out of their way to outsmart the installer?

Hubris that comes from thinking you're smarter than Microsoft engineers

# ? May 11, 2011 21:02

FISHMANPET: Mar 3, 2007

In this case, I'm trying to setup an HP laptop to dual boot Win 7 and Linux, but I can't make any more partitions because it already has 4 (System, Win 7, HP_RECOVERY, HP_TOOLS). I'd get rid of HP_RECOVERY, but I can't burn recovery media, and HP_TOOLS is needed because it's an EFI BIOS.

# ? May 11, 2011 21:07

WorkingStiff: Jul 5, 2005

Sizzlechest posted:

My question was the converse. Why the heck SHOULDN'T you let Windows create the partition? Why are people going out of their way to outsmart the installer?

Gotchya. Apparently it installs the partition even on versions which don't support BitLocker. Since the Recovery Environment can run off the system partition, it's kind of redundant.

# ? May 11, 2011 21:22

Lum: Aug 13, 2003

FISHMANPET posted:

In this case, I'm trying to setup an HP laptop to dual boot Win 7 and Linux, but I can't make any more partitions because it already has 4 (System, Win 7, HP_RECOVERY, HP_TOOLS). I'd get rid of HP_RECOVERY, but I can't burn recovery media, and HP_TOOLS is needed because it's an EFI BIOS.

Just keep a standard Windows 7 DVD handy for future reinstalls. The HP Recovery partition is likely full of out of date drivers and random shovelware from Norton, Yahoo and so on.

# ? May 11, 2011 21:44

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

WorkingStiff posted:

Gotchya. Apparently it installs the partition even on versions which don't support BitLocker. Since the Recovery Environment can run off the system partition, it's kind of redundant.

Yeah but for the vast majority of cases it makes no difference (unless you've got an edge case like FISHMANPET) and is also more robust, in that your average user isn't going to accidentally delete the recovery environment files while 'tidying up that thar cpu' or something.

# ? May 11, 2011 21:49

FISHMANPET: Mar 3, 2007

Lum posted:

Just keep a standard Windows 7 DVD handy for future reinstalls. The HP Recovery partition is likely full of out of date drivers and random shovelware from Norton, Yahoo and so on.

It's not for me, it's for a persnickety grad student who doesn't know much of anything, so I'm trying my hardest to not gently caress it up, and I also like to keep a copy of the built in Recovery Media just in case (Why won't you let me burn a copy

).

I think I've got a plan though, restore the HP_TOOLS (because I can't boot to anything else without it,

EFI

), backup swesetup as that holds all the applications (in case he wants them), install Windows, install Linux (problem solved),

E: EFI might not be to blame, I just want to get this $500 shitbox off my desk.

FISHMANPET fucked around with this message at May 11, 2011 around 22:31

# ? May 11, 2011 22:27

SpeedoJoe: Feb 23, 2006

Does anyone know how to disable the Vista/7 style places bar from file dialogs? The GP I've found only applies to the XP style places bar but within Windows 7 so any dialog which is using the new style isn't effected.

# ? May 12, 2011 15:07

bewbies: Sep 23, 2003

My office IT shut down most streaming audio, which for me means no more NPR and no more Sirius stream. This irritates me.

I have been trying to figure out how to run this stream (a .pls). I've come up with two possible alternatives:

1) figure out how to do it in WMP
2) get a different program to do it

The problem is that I don't have any sort of admin access on my system. I can't install anything, or run any executable. I've been looking for a "no installation necessary" media player with no success, and all of the WMP modifiers (to let them play .pls files) require executables also.

Anyone have an idea what I could do here?

# ? May 12, 2011 15:36

BangersInMyKnickers: Nov 3, 2004; I have an oral fixation and it's not the sexy kind

bewbies posted:

My office IT shut down most streaming audio, which for me means no more NPR and no more Sirius stream. This irritates me.

I have been trying to figure out how to run this stream (a .pls). I've come up with two possible alternatives:

1) figure out how to do it in WMP
2) get a different program to do it

The problem is that I don't have any sort of admin access on my system. I can't install anything, or run any executable. I've been looking for a "no installation necessary" media player with no success, and all of the WMP modifiers (to let them play .pls files) require executables also.

Anyone have an idea what I could do here?

Installing a portable apps media player should be able to get support of those formats and not require admin rights to install if you just point it in to your user profile, so I would start there.

# ? May 12, 2011 15:40

bewbies: Sep 23, 2003

BangersInMyKnickers posted:

Installing a portable apps media player should be able to get support of those formats and not require admin rights to install if you just point it in to your user profile, so I would start there.

Cool, how do I do this? I am not very computer literate. Also, I tried googling "portable apps media player" and all of the websites that come up are blocked on our network.

# ? May 12, 2011 15:49

Karthe: Jun 6, 2007; the Mac you say?

bewbies posted:

Cool, how do I do this? I am not very computer literate. Also, I tried googling "portable apps media player" and all of the websites that come up are blocked on our network.

Foobar2000 has a "portable installation" option that shouldn't require admin privileges provided you point it to a path you have access to. In addition, the installation will be self-contained, so you can move the folder around wherever you want and it'll still work.

# ? May 12, 2011 16:21

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# ? May 26, 2013 07:30

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Missouri's all-time
sack leader

I'm not on a computer I check on at the moment, but you might try VLC. It should run/install in your user profile or off a USB flash drive. If that fails I believe there is a portable version that doesn't need an install.

# ? May 12, 2011 16:23

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