atomizer

i looked at your screenshot and i guess i'm not understanding you correctly. i don't know for sure what you're wanting to accomplish. look at these screens and see if this is what you wanted to do... screen 1 - this is my default. screen 2 - i tried to repeate what you did. screen 3 - and again.

Ripken, i really can't give an intelligent answer as to why not to use AIM. i just hate/don't trust anything AOL/AIM related. perhaps if it's configured properly it's OK. my daughter and her friend used AIM and i was always being bugged with "why is this popping.., why can't i boot.., why is this so slow.., look! i have 22 viruses!..," etc.. maybe it was what they were downloading, i don't know. and i watched them chatting one day and noticed all the ads. i don't understand how that can NOT annoy the living daylights out of someone (i know you said you used a util to stop that). anyway, i practically forced my daughter to use Miranda and that was the end of the problems (well, computer related ones anyway ). once she got used to it she liked it. simple. clean. functional.

there are several alternitives. look at the winamp or QCD plugins. you could look at foobar2000 as well, but i'm not sure if there's a streaming brodcast plugin for it. i'd guess most anything is going to offer far better options than WME.

don't take this personally, it's meant as a stab in IE's back, not yours or anyone elses that's the problem with IE; you can't run it alone. i always used a proxy, like proxomitron/proxomodo/ad-subtract or whatever, then you have to install and run something like SB S&D, scan system, immunize, run it again every week/month, update, scan system, immunize, run to windows update every month to get the latest "critical update" for the latest "buffer run overflow" that "allowas an attacker to take control" and on and on and on and on....................... and after all of that, if you left JS and ActiveX controls enabled, or didn't properly configure your security settings (cause they sure aren't configured right by default), you're still infected. and if you think you aren't, you're probably wrong just look at all the companies making money selling products that guard against spyware/adware/malware/whateverware/ that cater to the IE audiance, not to mention the freeware. then there's all the "erase your IE history" programs that must number in the hundreds. or.... use a quality browser. done. opera/FF/whatever

ripken, i'd suggest getting rid of IE, OE and anything AIM/AOL related. reformat and go with nLite (i assume you use nLite, i see you in the forums all the time). if your sister needs AIM compatibility, try Miranda or Gaim. she may not like Miranda at first (very minimal), but it can be customized like crazy and functionality can be extended with plugins. if you use FF with NoScript, Thunderbird and stay away from AOL crap, i'm thinking you won't really need any spyware blocking s/w. i rarely check my system anymore and never run anything in the background.

this is a biased report. i installed opera today (since they're giving away licenses - today only) and i really have to give it more time. i use FF and have used IE in the past. i would put opera in the middle (anything is better than IE IMO, like telnet ). but, like i said, i have to give it more time. somebody said i gotta disagree. no offence at all, but FF can do all of that, and more -- no extensions needed. you can stick any button on any toolbar at any position and add/remove any toolbar as well. your questions: 1)Security i think opera and FF are both good. 2)Speed loading speed? opera - no doubt. rendering speed? can't say. i've read that opera renders faster, but i have FF tweaked so i'm not seeing a difference yet. 3)Bugs & Updates far as i know both are quick to issue patches. 4)Skin support can't say which is better. i don't use skins. 5)Popup Blocker have to spend more time with opera, but its blocker seems to work well. i know FF works extremely well. 6)AdBlocker again, i'd have to spend more time with opera, but i can tell you for a fact that "AdBlock Plus" for FF is outstanding! 7)Plugins i'm going to separate your "plugins" into "plugins" and "addons". Plugins: both seem to support all the popular plugins (flash, shockwave, etc.). Addons: FF seems to have a huge advantage here with its extensions, however this seems to be a double edge sword: i like things clean and FF is pretty stripped down out-of-the-box. i like that because i can add the functionality i want rather than having it shoved down my throat. for instance, i see that opera comes with "voice controlled browsing", something i will never use. with FF, you add what you want. some people don't like this and just want to "use it" right out of the box. FF is not for them. 8)Any known Compatibility issues. with what?

wow. thanks for posting that. i'm going to give it a spin.

been awhile since i fooled with it, but here goes... bind "key" "clsmnu" alias clsmnu "wait;wait;wait;slot10" copy that exactly, including the quotes, to your... uh... i think it's call "user.cfg" now? used to be "autoexec.cfg". just replace "key" with a keyboard key ("a", "b", etc.) that isn't being used for anything else. if it doesn't work, try adding more "wait;" statements. can bind to a mouse button if you want as well ("MOUSE1", "MOUSE2", etc.), or a key pad key ("KP_INS", etc.). if that doesn't work, let me know "clsmnu" is just an "alias" i made up. you can change it to anything you want (close_menu). just replace both instances. the "alias" statement tells the engine what "clsmnu" means. oh, as for other games that don't suffer from the dumb hit box issues, the Unreal engine is the only one i know of. i'd guess there's more, but i never fooled with any. the Unreal engine, if i'm correct, uses the player model as the hit box, so it's pixel perfect. there's advantages and disadvantages to either method, but i think the disadvantages of the Unreal way out weigh the annoyances of the HL way. there's also some MOD for Unreal that is similar to CS. i tried it a little bit but didn't like it much. your millage...

SOHR-5239S06C <can you double check that number? it doesn't seem right.

yeah, but you don't want to hear it no, seriously, did you check to see what add-ons IE is using (dissable anything strange)? try CCleaner?

if you like digging in and customizing stuff, any flavor of HL is extremely easy to tweak and write scripts for. the syntax is practically like regular speech! although the commands are very limited, there's a lot you can accomplish though.

how is the jumper set (master/slave/CS)? what does device manager report? i have some other ideas. let's try that first though.

the second buy menu may be popping up due to some poorly written "anti-cheat" (not VAC i don't think) trying to query your installation and run commands/scripts. i could be wrong though, it's been a while since i left the HL scene. are you using a custom buy script?

works like a champ! neat!

it's frustrating at times, i know. all you have to do though is import your last session.ini (should be saved in the OS directory that you pointed nLite to) and de-select the removal of OE. just run through everything else to make sure it's what you selected before because some are reporting problems when importing previous settings.

that's a laugh. ALL browsers are subject to malware >ALL<. you don't remember when you got a piece of malware because you haven't FOUND any -- i don't care how you configure it. i will admit however that IE is getting better. only took umpteen years and how many billions of patches (slight exaggeration) of course it (and windows) still spy on you, just in case you do something "bad" so the local forensics dept. can figure out what you've been up to. anyway, to each their own. i would hope that one doesn't knock other browsers unless they've tried them though. i used IE for MANY years and it's only recently i made the switch to FF. i breifly tried it once before and i absolutly could not see what the fuss was about. now that i'm more knowledgable and familier with it, there's no way i'd go back. and if i did switch it'd be opera, though i've never used it.

make another build outlook needs OE -- at least the versions i've used in the past have (up to office XP).

don't get too worried, my OS (xp pro) is pretty well hosed at this point, and heavily nLite'd. boy, the splash screen sure looked good though ************** Exception Text ************** System.IO.FileNotFoundException: File or assembly name Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility, or one of its dependencies, was not found. File name: "Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility" at BlackJack.formBlackJack.InitializeComponent() at BlackJack.formBlackJack..ctor(Object caller) in C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\My Documents\Visual Studio Projects\BlackJack\Main_BlackJack.vb:line 1353 at BlackJack.Form1.btnPlay_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\My Documents\Visual Studio Projects\BlackJack\Main.vb:line 210 at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam) === Pre-bind state information === LOG: DisplayName = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility, Version=7.0.5000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a (Fully-specified) LOG: Appbase = C:\Profiles\Administrator\Desktop\BlackJack_exe\ LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL Calling assembly : BlackJack, Version=1.0.2066.41090, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null. === LOG: Publisher policy file is not found. LOG: Host configuration file not found. LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\config\machine.config. LOG: Post-policy reference: Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility, Version=7.0.5000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Profiles/Administrator/Desktop/BlackJack_exe/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.DLL. LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Profiles/Administrator/Desktop/BlackJack_exe/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.DLL. LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Profiles/Administrator/Desktop/BlackJack_exe/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.EXE. LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Profiles/Administrator/Desktop/BlackJack_exe/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility/Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.EXE. ************** Loaded Assemblies ************** mscorlib Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/microsoft.net/framework/v1.1.4322/mscorlib.dll ---------------------------------------- BlackJack Assembly Version: 1.0.2066.41090 Win32 Version: 1.0.2066.41090 CodeBase: file:///C:/Profiles/Administrator/Desktop/BlackJack_exe/BlackJack.exe ---------------------------------------- System.Windows.Forms Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.dll ---------------------------------------- System Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Drawing Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.drawing/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.drawing.dll ----------------------------------------

i guess it depends on how you weight the features of your browser -- to each their own. personally, i don't weight loading time or resources nearly as heavily as "fun" and "functionality". although i never used opera, i don't doubt at all that it loads fast, or even that it may render faster, or that it uses less resources. however, i am a tweaker and a lover of free, non-bloated, open source projects and that's why i love FF. it's slim out-of-the-box, and allows me to add only the functionality i want without forcing stuff i don't want down my throat. don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking opera. i just don't consider it much of a viable alternative for ME.

i swear i saw a link somewhere pointing to a program for office that is similar to what nLite is for windows. anyone know of this? TIA

never tried an ASUS, but i think i will the next time around. have an MSI K8T Neo FSR now and i love it, though ASUS seems to be the cadallic of MB's.

i read through most of this thread, but not all, so i apologize if this has been requested before... in order of importance... add CMenu to context menu when clicking on empty area of desktop/explorer the ability to drag and drop CMenu menu items within the editor (otherwise have to delete and add new if wanting to move an item). the ability to save the CMenu registry entries (as *.reg, etc.) for when a reinstall is necessary, etc.. the ability to manage the whole explorer context menu, not just CMenu items -- and i understand that this may be an unreasonable request. what a cool tool!

CMenu -- handier than a can of beans in a fartting contest

when you're on top, there's only one way to go

hmmm... you'd have to re-encode all your MP3's, according to what i understand, which would result in a quality hit, no? why not just use a good sound card driver? for my audigy 2 ZS card i use the kxProject drivers (link in sig).