Useful Programs - Requests, Questions and Discussions
 

Useful Programs -
Requests, Questions and Discussions

this thread holds questions and discussions related to a recommended software from the Useful Programs thread. You can also use this thread if you need a software recommendation for a specific purpose.

what do you think?

should we keep 1 thread for useful software or should we split it into Useful Programs for Windows / Mac / Linux / ... / ?

imho we should have separate threads for each OS.

I know that we have at least a thread for mac-software, but i also know there are some mac- and linux related posts in the big "Useful Programs" thread...

if we split it up, i won't like to stick all these threads. stickies are cool, but too much of them would destroy any advantage. Instead, i would manage it similar to model id request section and offer 1 sticky which gives a brief overview of important threads.

3 stickies for Win/Mac/Linux would suffice imho. That's about 99.9% ish of the installed based OS clients in the world anyway. ;)

Also, not a hell of a lot is needed for the majority of everyday tasks really. :) Here's what I have on the netbook

WinRAR, ImageGrabber, VLC, MPC-Home Cinema, AutoGK, VirtualDub, DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, IrfanView, Revo Uninstaller, JDownloader, Shareaza, utorrent & Flock browser. :thumbsup:

Use it myself ...but .... on some files it gives you a "not a valid .pdf file" when in actuality it opens with Adobe fine .. other times it just zips thru and extracts the images NP ... Any ideas?? Other than hit and miss works great on some or most files .. I guess I should really message their support guys and find out
TB

My first thought is that the PDF files you're having trouble with might be write/edit protected but I admit that's just a WAG. Are they? If not, is there anything else the problem files have in common?

Thanks for reply. I'm not that familiar with the format as I have had no real need to get into the meat of it. They don't seem to be protected as I believe they actually have an error warning for that.
Rather then me trying to TS this issue I'll just send along a couple of files
works.rar
Doesn_t_work.rar
If someone would care to take a look

WARNING : MAY CONTAIN IMAGES OF AN ADULT NATURE :eek:

Same source same day DL
5/11 work :D
other six don't :(
> If anyone who uses this proggy or has a good knowledge of .pdf has anything to add it would be appreciated ... Just curious more than anything
Thanks
:thumbsup:

Ill see if I can get any info from support and post anything pertinent here

That's a weird one. I can't see any difference between the two files, except that the one that works is twice as large (as are the images that make up the file, approximately). I don't see how file size would figure into whether or not it could be extracted, though.

It extracts fine for me (Windowns7 Ultimate 64bit)

http://img182.imagevenue.com/loc576/..._122_576lo.jpg

All "works" security permissions are set to allowed and it allows hi-res printing. PDF version is 1.4

"Doesn't work" is set to all denied except accesssibilty copying. PDF version is 1.6.

Ah ... Thank you! I wouldn't know where to find that info .. But why was groovesection able to unpack that one?? I'd like to know THAT little secret. if I could crack that one It'd make my month !! and I'd shut up [at least until I came up with another good proggy to post]
Thanks to all for replies BTW
TB

I think it worthwhile to have 3 main-OS threads pinned, but with some realisation (from the mods and contributors) that there will be cross-posting between the 3 on occasion as there is increasing number of very good cross-platform applications.

e.d. :)

sorry, i won't like to add more stickies, moreover i want to get rid of some. in near future there will be just 3 stickies if useful programs will be splitted into OS related parts:

* login / account problems
* thread reports
* help section welcome & rules

the third one will give an overview of important threads (frequent questions etc) which also will offer crosslinks to useful programs of different OS and its discussion(s). instead of having a sticky, you then can subscribe to such threads related to your OS to stay up-to-date.

I've allready started the overview list here, so that's how it would look like:
http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...n-cleanup.html

some simple rules will be added and it will be open for discussion / suggestions related to the section.

the main topic of "help and guides" section is to get help and guides related to our forum (posting/thread issues), including depending issues like how to watch or rip movies, how to make movie previews, missing codecs etc. "useful programs" is more a grey area and not typically a topic which fits to VEF.

So this thread will continue to exist, but not as sticky?

yep, sure it will continue to exist :)

I would add Nero Micro as it's pretty handy; I use it full time now. A bare :rolleyes: version as it were with all the bloatware (i.e. crapware ;)) removed.

Burning only - that's what I need it for anyway. :thumbsup:

if you would add it, then do it. but please do it in the useful programs thread and not in the discussion ;). also please add a link to the software..

this thread is for related discussions / questions to a software which was recommended in useful programs. is it so complicated to divide questions from recommendations? :)

Simple photo editor for 64-bit Windows 7
 

I've been using MS Photo Editor (PhotoEd) for eons - I love its simplicity - but I will soon be migrating from XP to 64-bit Windows 7, where it won't work, and I'm trying to find a simple photo editor that will.

I don't need all of the bells and whistles, or fancy filters or weird effects - just simple resize, crop, and color balance.

Any thoughts?

Rob

Irfanview. No problems with 64-bit Windows 7.

I've been a fan of IrfanView for years. It has its uses, but it's not what I'm looking for.

Perhaps Paint.net or something like it? It's got way more features than I'll ever use, but the interface is similar. I've got about a week to find something.

USB troubles - check this out!!!
 

More like a useful tip (I hope :rolleyes:) than a program. Always, I mean ALWAYS remove safely your USB sticks from the taskbar. DO NOT unplug them whilst the led is flashing, because you'll most likely damage the file system.

Happened to me the other day :( with 8 gigs of valuable data (docs from work) plus the occasional porn movie lol. Anyway, neither XP nor Win7 would identify my flash disk, though I got lucky it seems because Linux Mint did (have it installed in the netbook). :)

So, here's the tip - always try a different OS in case disaster strikes, alright? ;)

@rlg118 - if you're more looking for a user friendly frontend, try ACDSee. it has simple editing functions and beside it has a pretty DB to organize your images, create contact sheets/gallery index files etc. here you can download a 30 days trial version:
http://store.acdsee.com/store/acd/en...=1300096767799

What's a Release Candidate?
 

What's a Release Candidate, please?

http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...&postcount=163

If it isn't being tested and it isn't the "real" program, what is it?

e.d. :)

Means almost done. A version before Release To Manufacturing (RTM). ;)

simple PR to announce the official version. you can call it a final beta release, too

if you just want to jump to a folder quickly, you also can create a "my favorites folder" on your desktop (or wherever you want to have it) and fill it with aliases to those folders or even files you visit frequently.

creating an alias is very easy - just hold the "alt"-key when you move a folder/file with the drag&drop method into your favorite folder.

no further software is necessary for this feature.

just be aware that on windows versions below vista any change of a folder or file (renaming / moving / deleting) interrupts the functionality of its alias cause the target property of the alias won't change automically if its referenced object has changed. you have to update your alias by hand (Win XP or lower).

When in doubt Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softwar...ase_life_cycle

"Release candidate

The term release candidate (RC) refers to a version with potential to be a final product, ready to release unless fatal bugs emerge. In this stage of product stabilization, all product features have been designed, coded and tested through one or more beta cycles with no known showstopper-class bug.

Apple Inc. uses the term "golden master" for its release candidates, and the final golden master is used as the general availability release. Other Greek letters, such as gamma and delta, are sometimes used to indicate versions that are substantially complete, but still undergoing testing, with omega or zenith used to indicate final testing versions that are believed to be relatively bug-free, ready for production.

A release is called code complete when the development team agrees that no entirely new source code will be added to this release. There may still be source code changes to fix defects. There may still be changes to documentation and data files, and to the code for test cases or utilities. New code may be added in a future release."


To put it in perspective...been using it for a week...first security update arrived today
Aside from a couple of freezes which occured in previous firefox versions its been relatively smooth....if you check the tools/error console you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise

Here's an annoying one: I love ImageHost Grabber. I mean, if you hang out in a forum like this a lot, then that program is a real essential.

On to the problem: The program works great with Firefox on my PC, but when I tried to add it on my laptop, it does absolutely nothing. It says it's installing, but then there's nothing there when you right-click (you know how it works).

I checked the homepage, and so far there's nothing about the program working with Firefox 4. That may be the problem, but I could have sworn that I had the newest version of Firefox on both my PC and my laptop (and they're both running Windows 7). Still, only the laptop seems to have a problem.

This is a bit of an annoyance, because I download a lot of pics from this forum. But at the moment if I want to do big grabs, I have to do it in my office. I'd like to be able to sit in the living room and watch TV in my big comfy chair while I'm downloading. As it is currently, I mainly check the discussion threads from the laptop, then spend several hours in the office for the actual content.

I looked around for a program similar to ImageHost Grabber, but I only found one, and it wasn't freeware. Has anyone run across something else that works? If not, has anyone had the same problem?

Well, its easy enough to verify what version of Firefox you have on each computer. Just click on Help then About Mozilla Firefox, the version will be listed in the resulting box.

I wouldn't be surprised if IHG isn't (yet) compatible with FF4. While there are a few people regularly contributing with new host definitions and updating old definitions the actual programming is one guy I believe.

As for alternatives, DownThemAll is popular but personally I've never been able to make it work with several popular hosts.

As it turned out, both the PC and laptop were running the same version of Firefox (3.6.16). After going back and forth with older and newer versions of ImageHost Grabber, I finally found one that worked on the laptop... and then I discovered that it wouldn't recognize Imagebam pics. *sigh* So it's still pretty much useless. As a result, I'm still downloading all my pics on my PC.

The help forum on the ImageHost Grabber site wasn't particularly helpful. Unfortunately, the guy who made the software can't seem to talk down to the level of us morons who are asking questions. :o His answers to people's questions are WAY too "programmer"-y.

Maybe someday a new update will come along that will solve the issues. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

By the way, I upgraded to Firefox on my laptop (because I figured if I already couldn't use ImageHost Grabber anyway, there was no reason not to). But I hated the new control arrangement so much that I went back to the old Firefox after a day. I don't know; maybe I'm just getting old and set in my ways. :cool:

you need the additonal anti-container plugin to download images from imagefile hosts with downthemall. without this addition, downthemall is only able to grab images where the images from the thumbnail page are directly linked with their fullsize versions. hosts like imagevenue or imagebam embed those fullsize images in an html-container (therefore "anti-container"), while the url of the fullsize image (just the file) is not known by the thumbnail.

http://www.downthemall.net/latest/an...party-plugins/

Useful info, Hos (hard to make that sound polite, but...). I'll have to try installing that later, when I'm not sick as a dog. Lord knows ImageHost Grabber is useless on my laptop.

Installed downthemall and the suggested plugin. Took a lot more tweaking than ImageHost Grabber, and it isn't quite as streamlined, but hey, it works on my laptop, and IHG doesn't. That's good enough for me. :thumbsup:

EDIT: Unbelievable! Now the freaking program has disappeared from my Firefox, and when I reinstall it, it doesn't show up. I have NO idea what's wrong with Firefox these days. For one thing, it won't let me hit the Log In button for THIS site, which means that if I have to clear my cookies for any reason I won't be able to get back in (until I remember how I got it to work last time).

This whole Firefox business is starting to piss... me... off. :mad:

Any suggestions for a converter for mov.to wmv? Is was using Erightsoft Super until I upgraded. On installing the new version 1st erases your exising version and then only installs if you're online. The computer for this is not online and I don't trust that anyway. Any ideas?

And NOW the program is back again! Not after a single restart, which would have just meant that I was an idiot. No, this happened after I'd closed the browser several times, about an hour later.

How many Rs in "AAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH... wait, it looks like five.

Can't wait until Firefox decides to behave full-time.

UPDATE: Now that I have installed Word 2003 and Outlook 2003, it works. Obviously, there are other Office files and/or registry entries it needs in order to function. Since Office 2003 came pre-installed on the XP machine, I never thought of it.

Now all I have to do is to get ImageGrab to work, or to find a substitute...

UPDATE: a. The files needed to run MS Photo Editor are the graphics filters included in the Office disk. In order to edit bitmaps you need an old copy of the bitmap filter and its registry entries. The bitmap filter is not included. Try an old Office disk, like XP or 1997.

b. After performing a clean install of Windows 7 (rather than using the HP Recovery disks), ImageGrab worked fine. In fact, my Logitech speakers, which also would not work, now work fine as well.

Words to the wise - do a clean install from a Windows 7 disk. It will fix a lot of problems.

FireFox 4
 

Please: does Mozilla FireFox 4 show placeholders for missing thumbnail images, or must we patch it ourselves like we needed to patch FF 3.x?

(I find this essential because of unreliable servers and variable internet speeds.)

e.d. :)

That version of Mediacoder's AVS Converter leaves a watermark and is exceedingly slow. Try this -Freemake Video Converter.

This is a free video converter that is really "free" (i.e. not a trial or basic version) It leaves no watermark or underscore.

It is simple, quick and will convert a video in almost any format to any other format. Here is the link to cnet's download center - where it receives a 4.5 (out of 5) editors rating.

http://download.cnet.com/Freemake-Vi...-75218346.html


Requires .NET framework ver4 (automatic and included with the install).

I'm a big fan of Format Factory, when I'm converting "less popular" formats.

http://www.formatoz.com/

Mediacoder is not the same thing as AVS Video Converter. I have used Mediacoder and it did not leave a watermark.

It's a frontend for ffmpeg and mencoder, just like Super and Mediacoder