This month ten of us met at The Bank of the West in the Community Room in Petaluma. Thanks to the assistance of
Ben Pietch and Bob Schulte we had the room and equipment set up and began the meeting promptly at ten o'clock.
This was important because as it turned out that this was the day of the Petaluma Butter and Eggs parade. If the
meeting ran late, we would have been trapped in the parade traffic. Your Webmaster,
Steve Cerruti, was
substitute facilitator. The programs available at this SIG are listed below.
AntiCrash 2000 (Freeware)
"AntiCrash is a Java 'application' which was developed in order to prevent
your Windows from crashing at all. It loads on the Windows desktop and
provides flawless capability to access and switch between applications, it
provides a true multi-threading enviroment for users and the applications
can bed and closed without the system getting unstable or slow."
Softheil Inc. softheil.homepage.com
Note: Requires Java Plug-in v.1.2.2 java.sun.com/products/plugin/
Anti-Shutdown MRU Tool (Freeware)
"This little tool disables Explorer's ability to remember the last option
that you selected from the Shutdown Dialogue. Users of Windows '98 and
Windows '95 running the IE4 Active Desktop will have noticed that if, for
example, you select Restart from the Shutdown Dialogue then, the next time
you click Start Shutdown, the Restart option will be selected. This feature
SERIOUSLY annoys me! This little tool disables this feature so as Shutdown is always selected."
members.xoom.com/dsdownload01/asmru.htm
BLA - Boot Log Analyzer (Freeware)
I recently received this Windows troubleshooting tip in my e-mail.
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Steve- I would be very surprised if in fact you were not aware
of what is below. However, just in case I thought I would send it. -Bob
If Windows fails to boot properly, press F8 while it boots for the Windows
StartUp menu, and pick the Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) option. It attempts a
normal boot but records the status of every step Windows takes during the
process. You can use this option to log a failed boot. Then, reboot to Safe
mode if necessary and use a text editor toBOOTLOG.TXT (in your root
directory). Search for "fail" to find the boot steps Windows had trouble with.
Failed steps are often excellent clues to the cause of the problem.
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BLA (Boot Log Analyzer) and the Microsoft Knowledge Base article referenced
below will enhance your ability to diagnose the Windows startup process when using the this tip.
Boot Log Analyzer for Windows 95/98 from Gemini Affinitas Ltd. (v1.22)
Description: "BLA is a FREE Boot Log Analyzer utility to help in identifying Windows
boot-up problems. It look at your BOOTLOG.TXT file and calculates the time
taken to load each driver etc, in order to help in locating any cause of
lengthy boot-up times. The displayed result can be sorted by loading
duration, filtered to show only those items with long durations or which
reported failure, and saved to a text file."
www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/
Note: This utility is intended for use by PC Support Personnel and Advanced
Users only - interpreting the results requires in-depth technical knowledge.
See the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q127970 titled "Load Failures Listed in
the Bootlog.txt File."
support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q127/9/70.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0
NotePad+ and Autospell (Freeware/Shareware)
RogSoft NotePad+ Version 1.11 for Windows 9x/NT4
NotePad+ is a fully 32-bit replacement for the standard Windows 95/NT 4.0
Notepad. It has many improvements over standard Notepad, and it's completely
free!
www.mypeecee.org/rogsoft/
CompuBridge has added support for NotePad+ to their spellchecker application
AutoSpell. They've made it available for free! This application adds a menu
to NotePad+ with a spellcheck option. A quote from the SpellChecker home page:
"And now, you can receive a copy of AutoSpell for Notepad absolutely
FREE, when you download your trial copy of AutoSpell. Your trial copy of
AutoSpell will be good for 25 days, after which you must register it with
CompuBridge. Even if you choose not to register AutoSpell, AutoSpell for
Notepad will be yours FREE, just for trying AutoSpell!"
Note: this offer is for standard Windows Notepad as well as NotePad+.
Specific NotePad+ support was added in AutoSpell version 5.0.8. NotePad+ is
just listed as 'Notepad' in AutoSpell though, because NotePad+ replaces
standard Notepad. You can just select 'Notepad' in AutoSpell to activate
AutoSpell for NotePad+. (Registration is $ depending on product ordered.)
CompuBridge www.spellchecker.com
Autospell www.spellchecker.com/autospel/overview.html
PowerDesk 4 & PowerDesk 4 Pro (Freeware/Shareware)
"The World's Best File Manager and More! Now there are two versions of
PowerDesk! PowerDesk 4 is a free download with no time or usage limits.
PowerDesk 4 Pro includes even more features and functions! Both help you
make Windows work the way you do!" (PowerDesk 4 Pro $19.95 USD)
www.ontrack.com/powerdesk
SlowView v.1.76 Image Viewer for Win 9x/NT4/2000 (Freeware)
"SlowView is an ImageFileViewer. Perhaps you already know ACD See 32 or
IrfanView32? SlowView is something similar, but not as good as the other
ones (at least the current Version :). The essence of an ImageFileViewer is
to provide the user a easy and fast possibility to a) load and display
Images b) convert Images to other Formats c) organize Images. That's what
SlowView is thought to be used for. Also note, that SlowView is Freeware for
both private and commercial use."
cust.nol.at/ppee/SLOWVIEW/index_eng.htm
Tray Utilities (Freeware)
L to R: Task Sched. | Drives | Vol. | Autospell | PTFB | ClockAlign | ZoneAlarm | Modem | TClockEX
- MR Tech ClockAlign v1.1 b5 for Win9x/NT4
NONAGS Description: "ClockAlign is Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP)
client originally written to support: RFC868 (Time Protocol) & RFC2030
(SNTP Protocol) Features include: Startup minimized to systray. Align on
startup optional, this allows you to copy to your startup folder and
re-align on startup. Date stamp as your tray icon so that you don't have
to keep looking at a calendar to see what today's date is." (6-duckies)
www.mrtech.com/clockalign/index.html
- Drives v1.03 for Windows 9x
This utility runs in the system tray, and displays a list of all current
drives. Navigate to a drive with a click of a mouse button. New in this
version are options to show free space and to specify the file manager.
www.members.home.net/paul.scott/drives.htm
- DeskSweeper v2.0
Hide all desktop icons (including Recycle Bin, My Computer, Network
Neighborhood, etc.) DeskSweeper is always visible in the Windows system
tray for easy access. A single mouseclick is all you need to hide or view
your desktop icons. This version includes several new options and features.
no-nonsense-software.com/freeware
- PTFB v1.05 for Windows 9x/NT4/2000
PTFB (Push the Freakin' Button) runs in the background - usually its only
on-screen presence is a mouse-shaped task bar icon. When a dialog causes
irritation, you simply tell PTFB which button should be pressed, and it will
handle the dialog in future.
http://www.bobos.demon.co.uk/par/PTFB.htm
(Download from ZDNet zdftp.zdnet.com/pub/private/sWlIB/utilities/system_utilities/freakinb.zip.)
- TClockEx v1.41 - Taskbar Clock Enhancement
TClockEx lets you customize and enhance the clock that is built into the Windows Taskbar.
users.iafrica.com/d/da/dalen/tclockex.htm
Mah Jong Soltaire Games (Freeware)
To learn more about this ancient game visit the Mah Jong Cyber Museum.
- Kyodai Mahjongg 1.21 for Windows 3.1/95/98 & Linux (using Wine)
Final 16-bit version (2D-only)
www.kyodai.com
- MahJong 2000 - Luxury Edition, V1.1 (32-bit Windows)
Luxury Edition is a solitaire, tile-removal
version of the ancient MahJong game.
www.nr1webresource.com/fas/mahjong10.html
- Moraff's MoreJongg Version 7.00 for Windows 95/98/2000
Unique implementation of the ancient Chinese tile game Mahjongg. This
updated version includes an improved install/uninstall routines.
(Exceptionally nice - but really a demo with an annoying nag screen.)
www.moraff.com
