tk102 Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Recently my ISP migrated (and upgraded?) all their servers to a new physical location. I noticed my WAN side IP address has since changed and my DNS servers' IPs are also new. Since then, I've been getting frequent "Connection Timed Out" results from HTTP requests in Firefox. Pressing Retry typically works but it was the delay in page loading was becoming quite annoying. I found a tweak that seems to have fixed my problem. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Network.dns.disableIPv6 One particular bug that has appeared exists not in Mozilla, but in IPv6-capable DNS servers: an IPv4 address may be returned when an IPv6 address is requested. It is possible for Mozilla to recover from this misinformation, but a significant delay is introduced. By going into about:config and setting network.dns.disableIPv6 to TRUE, I have resolved my problem. I no longer have to wait 10 seconds for the Timeout page to show up so I can press the Retry button. Just thought I'd pass this on since it's likely that other people's ISPs will be upgrading their DNS servers to be IPv6-capable in the near future as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted May 6, 2007 Author Share Posted May 6, 2007 nice work Here's another one - ever tried to open an embedded Windows Media audio/video windows in Firefox ?? If you have you'll notice that nothing much happens, and you reluctantly go looking for that undesirable "e" icon Here's how to get embedded WMP in FF I was just about to ranting on about tracking down certain .dlls and plugging them in manually, but have since realised that some clever folks have (finally) written a WMP plugin for FF......(saving me the hassle of explaining the manual workaround!) check it out HERE thats it! mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerhs Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 ok, i found this one a while ago. its downright handy for anyone that has to reinstall Windows as it will at least tell you what hardware needs the drivers. it isn't entirely free, but it is handy to figure out exactly what hardware to look for. yes, there are better programs out there for that, but this one is much more simple to use. i've used it several times on the job, and it doesn't have anything malicious built into it. behold, Driver Agent!!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maaneeack Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Zidrav: Fix file corruption/missing bytes by making check/patch files. Useful for dialup junkies like myself to save from having to download large files multiple times (provided you have someone with a working file to make a patch file against). See my post on the work bench to see it in action (corrupt models.bif). Firefox/Thunderbird, Miranda, free download manager, spybot s&d/spywareblaster, avast, speedfan, autohotkey, d-tools...Go check out The OpenCD. @tk102: check out ultravnc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabish Bini Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 DOSBox: Allows you to play DOS games on current OS' like XP. I can play games like Dune 2 and Duke 3D on my XP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 I recently got sick of Firefox crashing when I would attempt to view my Yahoo! Mail. A quick Google revealed MozillaZine's Knowledge Base article on known causes of Firefox crashes... fixed me right up. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_crashes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Whoa, how did I miss this earlier. My favorite IDE of all time, ActiveState Komodo, has a a free version called Komodo Edit. Here is a review of Komodo Edit. ActiveState is going make some this code open source in their new Open Komodo code base. And from there a new project is in the works... Open Komodo is an open-source code base upon which IDE software packages can be developed. The initial open source code for Open Komodo will be a portion of ActiveState's Komodo Edit. ... The first tool the Open Komodo Project aims to create on the Open Komodo code base is a full-featured client-side web development tool. Currently codenamed Komodo Snapdragon, it will be integrated with Firefox and based on Komodo IDE, and developed in collaboration with the open source community ... Komodo Snapdragon will focus on JavaScript, CSS, HTML, XML, and other browser-side languages. It will also include integration with other Mozilla-based applications, such as Firefox and Firebug, to further improve the web development cycle. I'll have to check out this Snapdragon as soon as it makes itself available. **** Irfan View !! yes. I have to puke all over Irfanview. I've had it for about a year but it keeps getting the way since I foolishly let it consume my file associations. Uninstall. Gimme Photoshop, I'll wait for it to load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Strange that no one has said this yet... Inkscape - A stellar vector graphics editor that's easy to use, completely free, open source - you know, all the good stuff. Scribus - A very similar Desktop Publishing app for Linux/OSX/Windows that does the job nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Just found a nice little freeware application that does one thing and does it well. InternetFileSize Have you started downloading some big file but you have no idea how big it is? This little application will let you paste the URL into it and it will do a size/type query of the file for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Just found a nice little freeware application that does one thing and does it well. InternetFileSize Have you started downloading some big file but you have no idea how big it is? This little application will let you paste the URL into it and it will do a size/type query of the file for you. FF usually tells me the size of the file when I start downloading it, but I can't remember what IE does it's been too long since I've used it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 ^^ Usually it does that's true, but sometimes with DownloadThemAll plugin, I get the ??? file size listed. It makes a big difference when you don't know if you've got a 20MB or 2GB on the end of your fishing pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Hmmm never used DownloadThemAll so I can't judge on that... Here's a goodie: VirtualBox This is an amazing program that creates one or several virtual machines on your own PC (Win, Mac, Linux, whatever) and allows you to install an entire OS on it within your host system and it's just brilliant! You get to set up a virtual HDD for your guest OS and the good thing about that is: no partitioning! Another good thing is it's not a fixed amount of space it steals from your actual HDD but it's a dynamic space that'll shrink or expand to what you are doing on the Virtual Machine...It's been good for me to take the plunge into Linux and tinker around with a few distros until I find one that I really like and then switch to it and run WinXP in a Virtual Machine if I really need to access it. Oh and have I mentioned it's free and Open Source? Look out for a thread by me on this subject cause I'm gonna need some help if folk would be so kind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Here's another good yen: Paint.NET A free image editing proggie that's way better than the Gimp cause it's not a resource hog (especially on older machines like mine) and it's very easy to use, even tools like magic wand and such, just brilliant...A little info about photo editing won't hurt you to get started though, but it's the easiest and fastest photo editing program I've ever used... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Just found a nice little freeware application that does one thing and does it well. InternetFileSize Have you started downloading some big file but you have no idea how big it is? This little application will let you paste the URL into it and it will do a size/type query of the file for you. That's hardly worth making an application for, IMO. That'll fit nicely as a Firefox extension, or better yet, a native feature for the next Firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 That's hardly worth making an application for, IMO. That'll fit nicely as a Firefox extension, or better yet, a native feature for the next Firefox.Whatever man. It came in very handy for me. The whole idea of freeware is fulfill a need (usually a minor need) where it exists. And to keep on topic of this thread, here's another one. I was just noticing how my hard drive was getting full and wanted to know which folders were storing the most stuff. Dirlot came in handy for that. http://www.programurl.com/dirlot.htm Sure, most of the results could've been determined from a Windows search for big files, but that wouldn't have found the the folder of extracted XP Service Pack 2 files (many small files) which I had kept for some reason. Also worth pointing out: bgbennyboy's USB Ejector for the sake that it responds to commandline switches, thereby saving you at least one click if you create a shortcut that incudes them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 And to keep on topic of this thread, here's another one. I was just noticing how my hard drive was getting full and wanted to know which folders were storing the most stuff. Dirlot came in handy for that. http://www.programurl.com/dirlot.htm Sure, most of the results could've been determined from a Windows search for big files, but that wouldn't have found the the folder of extracted XP Service Pack 2 files (many small files) which I had kept for some reason. Very handy little program, and very light too! On a totally different note: I love this thread! I'm always going "hmmm I used to have this app that did this or that before my HDD crashed", and I always find it in here somewhere lolz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det. Bart Lasiter Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Madotate. Screen: DeskSpace. Screen: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Wow. *hands trophy to jmac* I wish Deskspace was free. I'm an icon horder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 hmm..might give that deskpace a go - I wonder if it will allow me to run vista media center on a second virtual desktop... EDIT: It does ! great stuff jmac >>works great on Vista x64 too Ive got a couple: Any Video Converter (Free Edition lower down on page) Free, highly tweakable - I use it for all my HDTV archving, converting all my recorded/edited mpeg2 > H264. VERY easy to use, more reliable than super(esp on x64) and prettier too Vista Codec Pack & Vista x64 components any serious multimedia fan/hoarder will already know about this. Also, a MUST INSTALL for anyone planning to use a vista rig as a mediacenter pc. An entirely comprehensive package of codecs/tools, customisable. Includes ffdshow, vobsub, haali/matroska etc Even better for x64 users is that the compiler has created an x64 components add on, allowing all files to work across WMP and Mediacenter(sometimes a file/codec is x86 specific and will open in WMP but not mediacenter, this addresses this for all relevant filetypes) check the site regularly as the compiler keeps codecs/filters versions meticulously up to date see screenie >> there is simply nothing as wonderfully comprehensive Last but not least (not sure if Ive mentioned it here...) FairUse Wizard Light Edition = FREE, fast and very easy to use! The ultimate DVD>AVI(xvid, divx, x264) converter. Intuitive GUI, not a messy dogs breakfast like Auto GK Tweakable if you need it, or basic/auto modes. Supports batch encoding, as well as encoding from .isos. Best to have the latest divx/xvid/h264 codecs installed in the background. (or you could use the vista codec pack listed above - which includes all these) piccie en francais,but proggie can be installed in english as well of course mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentine Cougar Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Some nice finds here! VirtualBox in particular looks interesting. Here's some of my favorite programs that haven't been mentioned yet (all of them are freeware): TUGZip - My favorite compression/decompression program; it can handle a ton of different file types, including zip, rar, 7zip, tarballs (the reason I originally got it), and even bin, img, and iso files. CDisplay - Calls itself a "sequential image viewer," and what it does is makes it easy to look at a bunch of images in sequence, like a manga or comic; with just one button (spacebar) you can scroll through an image and jump to the next one in line. Also, it makes the picture fill the whole screen, for a more "immersive" experience. Notepad++ - An alternative to the Notepad that comes with Windows; it has features like spellcheck and column numbering, and will color code html and other coded files when you work on them. It's a lot easier to keep track of what I'm doing in an HTML file in Notepad++ than it is in regular Notepad. Daemon Tools - Emulates a virtual CD/DVD-ROM drive on your computer; nice when used in conjunction with ISO Buster because you can copy a CD to your computer's hard drive and stick it in the virtual drive, and don't have to worry about damaging the original CD (something I'm a little paranoid about). ASC Gen.NET - A nifty little program that can convert any image to ASCII. I guess it's kinda like Email Effects, but I hadn't heard about it before... Also, it's completely freeware, so no "nag-ware"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 CDisplay - Calls itself a "sequential image viewer," and what it does is makes it easy to look at a bunch of images in sequence, like a manga or comic; with just one button (spacebar) you can scroll through an image and jump to the next one in line. Also, it makes the picture fill the whole screen, for a more "immersive" experience. Just thought I'd mention that Comix is a great replacement for this, if you're using Linux. Comical is also a great alternative for cbr and cbz files, and it works across Windows, Linux and Mac (and I'm using it right now! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Regarding a favorite tech sites, I guess I forgot to mention this... http://www.dnsstuff.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevanA4 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I've never used this since I've always payed for the entire thing but if you don't want to spend upwards of 500 bucks for Visual studio's .Net here is a free version http://www.microsoft.com/express/2005/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 not sure if I mentioned this before DynDNS offers some great services for static and dynamic IPs. Not sure what it is ? Let me give an example of what I used it for. *I assigned my mediacenter pc a static (internal) IP, via networking properties *I then set up a dyndns account and installed the dyndns service on that pc. *It then maps the external IP for that pc to some easy to remember words you chose eg. whatever.homeip.net >>> so anywhere on the web, when you type in that it allows you to access that pc directly. If you mab a web server proggie or app to a particular port in your router, it will give you direct access to that great for things like > >remote access/control of pc. in a media center context I used webguide to schedule recordings, access my music from overseas etc ! >remote access/control of utorrent. check how its all going/add torrents from anywhere on the web Please note, there are some modem/routers which have this service built into them, but for those that dont, this(and there are similar others) are a great option. mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jae Onasi Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I found this site in SmartComputing magazine the other day. It's an independent company that tests and ranks AV programs, called AV-Comparatives. Thought you all might find their reviews interesting. Astro--could you set up an index in your first post perhaps? There's so many good things in this thread, and an index will make the programs/sites easier to find (and to check to see if the site/program has been mentioned by someone already. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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