Tinys World of Technology BS

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

There are several free and paid utilities that you can use to make a screenshot of your monitor.  One of the best Windows utility programs that I often utilize can’t be downloaded.  It’s already built into the operating system.

Snipping Tool is a screenshot utility included in Windows Vista and later.  It can take screenshots of an open window, rectangular areas, a free-form area, or the entire screen.  Snips can then be annotated, stored as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG file), an MHTML file or e-mailed.  The Snipping Tool allows for basic image editing of the snapshot, with different colored pens, an eraser, and a highlighter.  Prior to Windows Vista, the Snipping Tool was available in the Windows Experience Pack (power toys).

The start icon for the Snipping Tool can be found in the programs/accessories group.  I have found that it is much faster and easier to start by typing “sni” in the search box and clicking on “Snipping Tool”.  Once opened, the application is very simple to use.  There are several available options:
1. Hide Instruction Text will show or hide the instruction text in the main Snipping Tool window.
2. Always copy snips to the Clipboard will copy all snips to your Windows clipboard so you can paste them into other applications.
3. Include URL below snips (HTML only) will save your snip as a Single File HTML, or MHT document.
4. Prompt to save snips before exiting.
5. Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active.
6. Ink Color will change the color of the selection border when you create a snip.
7. Show selection ink after snips are captured simply shows the selection border around the snip.

Personally, except for Include URL, I’ve left all the options on default.  It really doesn’t make much difference.  After you’ve selected any options you want, it is time to make a clip of your screen.  There are four different types of snips you can take.  In order to change the type of of selection the Snipping Tool will use to create a snip you would click on the small down arrow menu next to the New button.
1. Free-form Snip: This method allows you to draw a shape around your selection using a mouse or a stylus.  Once the selection shape is drawn and you close the shape so there are no open sides, the snip will be created and shown to you.
2. Rectangular Snip: This method allows you to create a rectangular selection around a portion of your screen and anything in that rectangle will be used to create the snip.
3. Window Snip: Will capture the contents of the entire active window that you select.
4. Full-screen Snip: Will capture the entire screen on your computer.

After selecting your type of snip, simply left-click and hold your mouse button down.  Your screen will fade and you can move the mouse to select the area to clip.  After you are satisfied with your selection, release the mouse button and you have snipped your screen.

A new window will open with your clipped image.  You can make then use the pen to draw on your clip.  There is also a button to select a high lighting tool.  There is an erase button that will undo any changes you’ve made.  I seldom edit my snips.  I have found that when it is necessary it is easier to do in a graphics program.  When your snip is satisfactory, you can save it to a file or attach it to an e-mail.

Note: The screenshots and directions in this article were all done on a Windows 7 computer.  Everything is similar for all other versions of Windows.  I can’t give you a download link because the program is already installed on your machine.

If you like this software, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Are you like me?  Do you download a lot of programs, install them and then decide that you really don’t need them?  If so you should really use virtualization software of some type.  There are many efficient programs that do this.  VirtualBox, Parallels and VMware just to name a few.  There are also many quasi-virtualization programs.  These are programs that run software in a “virtual box”.  Examples of this type of software are Sandboxie, Bufferzone and DriveSentry.  Many software security suites such as Avast, Norton, Comodo, etc. also include sandboxing utilities.

The ToolWiz TimeFreeze is a simple and small sandbox utility that lets you protect your Windows Operating System.  The program creates a temporary cache file on your hard drive.  All changes made to your computer while TimeFreeze protection is enabled are stored in this cache file.  No changes are made directly your system, files, or folders.

After you install TimeFreeze you must restart your computer to allow the program to start its services.  You can the activate TimeFreeze from the system tray, start menu or desktop icon if you have one.  Simply select start TimeFreeze.

As you can see in the screenshot, there are only five options (check boxes) in the program.
1. Start Time Freeze automatically when Windows starts.
2. Enable Folder Exclusion when Time Freeze is ON.
3. Enable Password Protection for the control.
4. Show toolbar on your desktop.
5. Hide the tray icon.

I prefer not to start freezing with my system start. Instead I start it manually before I install a program for testing or do something that may be dangerous to my computer. If you add any folders or files to the exclusion folder, no changes will be made to them. Enabling password protection simply requires a password to start the program. I personally see no reason to do this.

You can stop TimeFreeze by clicking the stop button. When you do this a pop up screen appears with two options:
1. Turn off the protection and save all the changes. This will save any changes you made into your active system and then stop freezing. This may take several minutes.
2. Turn off the protection and drop all the changes. This will stop TimeFreeze and reboot you computer. Alternatively, you can click the your start button and reboot your computer.

CAUTION: TimeFreeze is a program useful for mainly for testing software without making changes to your computer. Although it may be helpful, it is not an anti-virus or anti-malware program.

TimeFreeze is free for personal use. It is a 2.8 MB download from many of the software download sites. I recommend you download from the ToolWiz website.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
by Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

I’ve used Spyware Blaster on all of my Windows computers for as long as I can remember.  It is a small program that will use less than 9 MB of space on your hard drive.  Unlike other anti-spyware programs, it does not remove spyware from your computer.  Instead, it focuses on keeping evil spyware, adware, browser hijackers, etc. from being downloaded by your web browser and being installed.  It does this by using a list of known exploits and setting the “killbit” in the Windows Registry that identifies the software as unsafe.  This in effect, sets a flag to notify a web browser that an object is not be opened.  Your browser will not download malware.

Unlike most anti-malware programs, Spyware Blaster does not have to be running at all times in the background.  It works seamlessly with whatever anti-virus software you use.  When you first install and run the program, you simply have to check for updates.  After updates are downloaded, select enable protection for all browsers.  You can then close the program.  Every week or so, you should run the program and check for updates to the data base.

Spyware Blaster has some other features that I have not tested.  You can create a System Snapshot, view and change browser settings, tweak Internet Explorer settings, backup the Hosts File, completely disable Flash content or create custom Active X blocking lists.  These are items that I either have no need for or employ in other utilities.

Spyware Blaster can be downloaded from the Brightfort website.  (Bonus: They have some other pretty good utilities.)  It is a Windows only program.  The software is free for personal and educational use.  The purchase of a license for $14.95 allows for automatic updates and support.  Give it a try.  It’s kind of like a flu shot.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

This month I’d like to take a few minutes and tell you about a great utility program for making a screen shot.  This program is not only free, but you don’t even have to download and install it.  This is because it is integrated into the Windows Operating System.  I thought I’d write a short article about it because I am so often surprised that many people don’t even know it exists.

Snipping Tool is a screenshot utility included in Windows Vista and later.  Before Windows Vista, Snipping Tool was included in the Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.  It was originally released as a PowerToy for the Microsoft Tablet PC launch on November 7, 2002.

The Snipping Tool can be started by clicking “Start>Programs>Accessories>Snipping Tool”.  I’ve found that in later versions of Windows, it is much easier to start by just typing “sn” in the search box and clicking on the link that is found.

Running the program opens a small window.  Clicking on “New Clip” places a cursor on your computer screen for outlining the area you want to snip.  There are four options for new clips.  A free–clip lets you draw around an object on your screen with your cursor.   A rectangular clip drags the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.   A window snip clips the entire active window on your monitor.   Finally, a full–screen snip clip will capture your entire screen.

When you select your clip, it is copied to the clipboard.  A new mark–window with options will also open.  In this window you can make an annotation on your clip.  You can also highlight areas on your clip.  You can send your clip via e‑mail or save it to disk.  Clips can be saved in JPEG, GIF or PNG formats.  You can also save as a web page in MHT format.

The only thing I wish that Microsoft had added is a function to add text notes to your screenshot.  This is not by any means a deal breaker as almost every graphics editing program will do this for you.  In short, why download a program to make a screen shot when there is such an excellent utility built into the OS?

If you like this program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

This month I’d like to tell you about one of my favorite utility programs.  I’ve got it installed on all of my computers and have been using it for eight or nine years.  Like many other free programs, the programmer has a donate button on his website.  I like the program so much that I hit the PayPal button a long time ago.  Maybe it is about time I gave him a few more dollars.

FileMenu Tools lets you customize the right click menu of Windows Explorer (or on my computers FreeCommander XE).  The program adds utilities to perform operations on files and folders and adds customized commands that let you run external applications, copy or move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

With the built in commands you can:
Run With Parameters – Runs a program with parameters you input in a dialog box.
Command Line From Here – Opens a command line window.
Copy/Move – No need to cut and paste. You can also use filters in file selection.
Duplicate Files – Make a copy in the same folder.
Pack to Folder – Moves all the selected elements to new subfolder in the current folder.
Copy Path/Name/Content – Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard.
Attributes – You can view and change them without opening a properties dialog box.
Find and Replace – Lets you find or replace a text for all the files in a selected folder.
Advanced Rename – With lots of options.
Change Icon – Quickly and easily change folder options.
Advanced Delete – lets you delete specific file types in a folder.
Synchronize Two Folders – Lets you synchronize two folders quickly and easily.
Shred Files – Overwrites several times so it is impossible to recover the file in the future.
Send to Mail Recipient – Lets you send an e-mail with selected elements as attachments.

These are less than half of the FileMenu commands you can select from.  In the configuration menu, a simple check will turn off the commands you don’t want.  If you can’t find the FileMenu function you need, then just add a customized command to run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

FileMenu Tools lets you configure the “Send to” submenu.  You can add new items, change the properties of the existing items or delete them.  You also can disable existing “Send to” items in order to hide them from the menu.

FileMenu Tools will also let you enable/disable the commands which are added to the context menu of the Windows Explorer by other programs.  This is the only function that is not one hundred percent reliable.  When it works, it works well, but it doesn‘t catch all of the programs that add a right click.

FileMenu Tools is a 10 MB download and runs on all Windows platforms.  Open Candy is used during the installation process, but can be refused with a check mark.  Did I mention the price?  This program is freeware and costs nothing.

Download FileMenu Tools and give the program a test. I’m pretty sure that you’ll like it.  While you’re on the Lopesoft website, you can also download LopeEdit Lite.  If you do, you’ll probably never use Windows Notepad again.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (län’yəp, län-yäp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Windows 10 will soon be released and once again Microsoft hasn’t done much with a program that everyone uses.  Windows Explorer was first released in Windows 95 as a replacement for File Manager.  It is the interface for accessing the Windows file system.  Windows Explorer is also the interface that controls many items on the monitor such as the task bar and the desktop.  In short, it is a necessary program for operating your computer.

Over the years, Windows Explorer has morphed into what is commonly known as Windows File Explorer.  Enhancements to the program have included, the task pane, search and image handling, to name just a few.

As in many other facets of Windows, third party developers have released enhancements or replacements to the File Explorer.  An internet search will give you listings for hundreds of them.  For the past year or so, I’ve been using XYPlorer.  This is an excellent program which I like.  It is a paid program.  I got it as a Giveaway of the Day about a year ago.  Since I can’t update it, I decided it was time to move on.

For the past month or so, I’ve been using FreeCommander XE 2015, an easy to use alternative to the Windows File Manager.  It has a friendly user interface and can be easily adapted to your individual needs and desires.  There are more features than I can use.  I’ve disabled many of them, another pretty good feature of the program.

One of the main features is the dual pane interface.  If you do a lot of file copying or moving, it is easy to drag and drop from one pane to another.  With Windows File Explorer, you would have to have another open window.

My favorite feature is the tabbed interface.  Instead of having to open a new window for each file location I access, The FreeCommander window has as many tabs as you need.  I always have easy access to my most common locations.  Tabs can be locked so that you don’t accidentally close them.

There are four optional toolbars.  Toolbars can be resized.  I haven’t counted the number of toolbar commands available, but there are at least 150.  Nearly every toolbar button can be customized by the user.  However you handle files, I believe FreeCommander XE will do the job for you.

The last feature I’m going to mention is the favorites menu.  Everyone has favorite folders, files and programs that they access often when using the computer.  FreeCommander has an excellent favorites folder that can be accessed from anywhere in the program.  Remember that there is only one window that ever needs to be opened.  Click here for screenshots of the program.

Did I mention the best feature?  FreeCommander XE 2015 is freeware and can be used free of charge for both private and commercial purposes.  For those that are interested, the program also has a portable version.

I’ve barely skimmed the features of this software.  I think if you try it, you’ll never go back to File Explorer.  You can download the program from the FreeCommander XE download page.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

There are many programs for syncing files on your computer(s). The one I use doesn’t have a lot of fancy features, doesn’t come with any help files and hasn’t been updated since August 2007. So why do I keep using it? To borrow a line from Apple, “It just works.”

PathSync is an open source application that allows you to compare and sync two different directories. It lets you seamlessly copy files from source folder to destination folder, destination to source folder, or in a bidirectional manner.

PathSync works by analyzing two directories and showing you a list of the differences. The folders can be on either an internal or external hard drive, portable flash drives and cards or cloud storage. You can define rules to differentiate between file formats. Other masks can be added.

Everything is accomplished from a single screen which is laid out in an intuitive manner. To compare your desired folders, select them by clicking the browse buttons in the “local” and “remote” fields. Select your synchronization action. If you want to use file name masks, click the “question mark” button to get instructions. The ignore field will let you make exception for file size, file dates and missing files. Finally, click the “Analyze!” button.

PathSync Screen Shot

After the file comparison list is generated, right clicking on a file name will give you the options to change the synchronization directions or take no action at all. When all of your options are completed, click the “Synchronize!” button.

When the program starts to synchronize, a new job status window will open. This will display information about the item that is currently being processed, the total progress of the job, and an estimated time until completion.  If you would like to try the program, you can download it here.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Whenever you see a little arrow at the bottom of an icon, it indicates that the symbol opens a program and not a file.  I think Microsoft does this mainly because they think I’m stupid enough to not be able to find a program file on my desktop.

If you don’t like the arrow ruining the aesthetic of you icon, there are several methods for removing it.  Most of them involve making changes to the registry which is always dangerous.  There are other methods that involve using the Windows shell which can be difficult.

Over the years I’ve seen many other tweaking programs that remove the arrow.  Once I read about a program that changed the icon picture to one without the arrow.  Needless to say, all of these methods are either time consuming, difficult, unsafe or just plain stupid.

You’ve probably guessed by now that I don’t like the arrow on my icons.  For several years, I’ve used the Windows Shortcut Editor program.  If you download and unzip the program you will find folders for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.  The program(s) do not install or change anything on your computer.  Just run the correct EXE application and you will see the screen shown in the accompanying screen shot.

There are four different options.  Click the one you want and Windows will refresh to give your icons the new look.  You can select the Windows default arrow for your system, the Windows classic (XP) arrow or no arrows.  The custom option lets you replace the arrow with your own design.  The ZIP file also contains a ‘Shortcut Arrows’ folder for a few ready made arrows that you can use.

A word of caution.  Removing the arrow not only changes the icons on your desktop but also the icons in any of folder throughout the computer.  If you browse your computers folders, you will lose the visual identification of a shortcut.  You can download the software at WINAERO.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Did you know that when you uninstall a program from your computer, you seldom uninstall all of the program?  When you uninstall programs in Windows, they leave bits and pieces of themselves behind, such as Registry entries, file folders, shortcuts, dll files, etc.

There are many free uninstaller programs available to replace the Windows built in installer.  My favorite is the Revo Uninstaller.  It is one of the most popular and highly respected programs that you can download.  It has been around for a long time.  I don’t remember when I first started using it, but I know it has been more than five years.

Revo Uninstaller is an uninstaller for Microsoft Windows.  It uninstalls programs and additionally removes any files and Windows registry entries left behind by the program’s uninstaller or by the Windows uninstall function.  It works by scanning a hard drive and registry for files that would otherwise be left behind.  It removes all the program’s files, auto start entries and all noticeable registry entries.

When you open Revo Uninstaller, you are presented with a list of installed programs that can be uninstalled.  Right clicking on a program in the list will give you the option to search Google for the program’s name or manufacturer.  I have found this useful when I am not sure what the program is.

To uninstall a program, double click on the title.  Revo Uninstaller will first run the program’s built in uninstaller if there is one.  Next, Revo searches for leftover program files, auto start entries, the recently opened file list and any leftover registry entries.  Although, Revo Uninstaller has a few tools for removing junk files, its real forte is program uninstalls.  It is not perfect and occasionally misses a file or entree, but under most circumstances, it is more than adequate.

There is also a portable program that can be run from a USB drive.  A paid PRO version is also available with more features.  Revo Uninstaller can be downloaded here.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.