matera

XP Pro SP3 This is a very strange situation. I started to copy a CD, one that I have made copies of before. The program (Deep Burner) froze after caching the files (that has never happened before), and after a while I gave up and hit the power switch. Today, I decided to copy the files to the hard drive first and then create an iso, so I could make several copies faster with less chance of trouble. The copied files read at 1.14 gigabytes! I said "What tee eff" and checked the original CD: 1.14GB again. It should be around 549MB. Other CD's are all right, Windwoes reads the right size -- it's only the one that was involved in the crash that is misread. Doesn't matter if it's the original CD or a copy on CD or HD, it's 1.14 gig. I've been cleaning temp files, combing the Registry, wottever. And yes, I've rebooted again since the mishap. So, any ideas on what could be giving the wrong spin to that one CD? Where is Windows storing the erroneous data? It's not a dire problem, I can do the copying on another machine. But I would certainly like to know why it happened, how it might happen again. And how to fix it

I do what I tell everyone else to do. When I need admin privileges, I switch or run-as. I do have a lot of things in FAT32 partitions, which saves some hassle. Otherwise I am content to keep my grubby little hands out of Windwoes' pockets while doing everyday things. I have three admin accounts to do serious messing around in - sort of a specialized multiple personality disorder

Aahrrrgggghhhhhhhhh. I was hoping someone had some clues to a solution for the real problem here, but it doesn't look like it. I've been searching hopelessly everywhere. Hardly anyone asks the question right. Well, so they are not masters of wordcraft. Can't help that, I guess. Here is my version of The Great Sucking Thumb Dialog Dilemma: Whenever I use a Microsoft Office open/save dialog with the intention of finding an image (from the Insert menu), it will always open in thumbnail view, no matter what folder is designated as the My Stupid. Any other kind of file, fine, but go for a picture and the bloody Office crudbox preloads every freekin subfolder while I'm frantically groping for the view options. The problem is the Office dialogs, not the Common Dialogs as in comdlg32.dll. The ElmueSoft dialog cracker does not touch the Office dialogs. What I have been trying to find out is what file those little b@st@rds come from so I can torture it with a red-hot hex editor. I'm mad! I have to use Word because other people don't understand anything else, but I will not put up with Micro$ith's "Let me do everything for you so you can remain an ignorant nube" BS. The best workaround I have for getting a picture into a Word doc is to go around from "outside" and copy and paste. I can browse sensibly with IrfanView if I want thumbnails. Other than that...since I can't get rid of them, I put nothing in any of the My Stupid Folders but shortcuts to the real archives. That way the dialog doesn't drag such heavy butt and my files are a lot safer.

I will sure as heck post it when I find it - and I will beat and torture the computer to get it if I have to

I have been tweaking an old machine donated to a local non-profit, and encountered an odd problem. It is in pretty good shape, runs well, a sweet little thing and perfectly usable for everyday office chores. I managed to free up plenty of drive space (it was 90% crammed, ugh!). BUT, when I try to boot into Safe Mode, it gripes about not being able to find the registry. I have a feeling that this has to do with the size of the registry. The System.dat file is around 8MB. That is larger than mine, with my win98 and a thirty-some gig drive and more installed progs than I can run in a week. I used to have win95, and I don't recall my registry ever getting over 2MB. Just wondering if anyone has any useful insights into this... It isn't a big problem (yet), since it will boot normally. I'm going to try some more registry tools on it, whatever I have that will run on 95. There are probably some keys over the size limit, and undoubtedly at least 4MB or so of useless junk. The poor thing was used for games for a long time. Please do not reply unless you have experience with win95. Thank you.

What the fluff does Notepad have to do with it? Besides the old trick of using the Open dialog as a file manager...lol. Some people just love to be obscure. Bleh. Has everyone forgotten the System File Checker? Very handy for switching files when one is feeling lazy. If you have an alternative file manager, you can CTRL-ALT-DEL explorer to hell and do the job much more efficiently. Easier yet if you have an alternative shell too. *chuckles wickedly* I once sent my unsavvy sister a hacked explorer with a batchfile installer. Ah, nostalgia.

Rapidshare is...well, I know of a forum where I could say exactly what I think of it. Let's just say a big pain in the seatware. I dread trying to download from there. Anything over a few hundred K might as well forget it

Just to say - one more happy user. I reinstalled Windwoes last Friday and thought I might as well try it. Nice, smooth install. I didn't do Option#3. I figured that since I use an alternate shell, I didn't need that too much. Don't need the games either, but I can shuck 'em. Some things are noticeably improved, and nothing has refused to function so far. My cranky old eMachine600 originally came with ME but my sister sensibly replaced it with 98 - so I inherited both when she gave up on it and dropped it on me. Edited to add: HELLLLLLLLLLLP!!! Modplug Tracker won't run any more! HELLLLLLLLLLLP!!! Fragdabbit! This is not as bad as not being able to run GIMP, but it is bad. I can't get any version of mpt to do anything but lock up and crash the whole works. Even profiling with Dependency Walker ends in a lockup. Owoo!

I hate to think all that effort has been wasted, but the problem sounds so much like what happened to me earlier this year. Suddenly one evening I was unable to access a site that I have visited every day for years! I was aghast--no, I said, it can't be gone! Well, it wasn't, but I couldn't touch it with a ten-foot modem (pardon my figure of speech). I could access cached pages through search engines. I e-mailed the site owner, who said that nothing had been changed. I asked my ISP if there was any IP blocking going on--nope. I searched for possible solutions, tried proxies, blablabla. Finally, after a few months of deprivation, I clicked on the dear old link and POW! There it was. Out of the blue either way, I have no explanation for why it all happened. All I can say is...Internet happens

I use a computer that my sister gave up for dead a few years ago. Unless I play beta tester too much, it is very stable. But I use an alternative shell, have no Internet Exploiter integration, stick with DirectX7, and tweak the living hell out of it all. Also chopped the case and added a good fan. I'll have XP when someone gives me their old computer with XP on it LOL As long as the GIMP and Fractal Explorer run, I'm happy.