Dan Dar3

How to customise the Services management console (services.msc)

2009-11-10T13:51:00.001Z

For years I wanted to change the Services management console (services.msc) to start by default with the Standard tab - the Extended view is nice with the description and tasks on the left side, but it takes that space and I can simply run the tasks from the toolbar.

Here’s a very useful tip from Petri IT Knowledgebase website on how to “author” .msc files (had no idea you could do that) and change the default tab, columns and window sizes etc. I tried it on Windows 7 and I couldn’t overwrite the %WINDIR%\System32\services.msc for some reason (didn’t complain but I didn’t see the changes taking effect), but I could save it as a separate .msc file, which is good enough, I usually keep shortcuts on my desktop anyways…

Comics.com v1.0 – XBMC pictures plugin

2009-11-08T22:32:00.001Z

View comic strips from Comics.com

Download:

XBMC Zone (or use XBMC Zone Installer);
Google Code (or use SVN Repo Installer);

Screenshots:

Oracle SQL Developer

2009-11-02T23:25:00.001Z

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/sql_developer/index.html

Oracle SQL Developer is a free and fully supported graphical tool for database development. With SQL Developer, you can browse database objects, run SQL statements and SQL scripts, and edit and debug PL/SQL statements. You can also run any number of provided reports, as well as create and save your own. SQL Developer enhances productivity and simplifies your database development tasks.

GameTrailers v1.9 – XBMC video plugin

2009-10-28T22:13:00.001Z

Download:

XBMC Zone (or use XBMC Zone Installer);
Google Code (or use SVN Repo Installer);

Changes:

Choice between SD and HD quality (thanks to Xolarian);

Screenshots:

XPR Express 1.5.0

2009-10-25T16:41:00.001Z

http://www.teamblackbolt.co.uk/projdetails.php?id=5

A GUI tool for creating and extracting XPR files written by EqUiNoX. With this tool you are able to fully extract or view all texture within XPR's. This is a ideal tool for budding skinners or even recovering your images.

BongFish SOMA Engine Debut Trailer

2009-10-06T23:29:00.001+01:00

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/soma-engine-bongfish/57109

Programmers top 10 sentences

2009-10-01T15:48:00.001+01:00

http://www.makinggoodsoftware.com/2009/09/01/programmers-top-10-sentences/

My favourites :-) read the original post (above)

GameTrailers v1.8 – XBMC video plugin

2009-09-27T22:11:00.001+01:00

Download:

XBMC Zone (or use XBMC Zone Installer);
Google Code (or use SVN Repo Installer);

Changes:

Platforms website changes (All and PlayStation 2 removed);

Eclipse Galileo SR1 (3.5.1) Now Available for Download

2009-09-26T12:54:00.001+01:00

The Eclipse Galileo service release, SR1, is now available for download. Updated packages are available on http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

Eclipse 3.5.1 Readme
http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/development/readme_eclipse_3.5.1.html

HHReg v1.2 - HTML Help Registration Utility

2009-09-20T11:56:00.000+01:00

http://www.ec-software.com/products_hhreg.html

HHReg is a utility to register HTML Help (.chm) files on an individual Windows computer to make them available for viewing. Registration for HTML Help files is required since Microsoft issued a security patch for Microsoft Internet Explorer, disabling in general all HTML Help files that are viewed from a network drive.

HHReg removes this limitation by explicitly registering HTML Help CHM files in the Windows registry, making them available for viewing even when opened on network drives.

XBMC Zone Installer – 25.000 downloads

2009-09-19T11:39:00.001+01:00

Wow, quite a few people out there using XBMC Zone Installer, a nice little satisfaction!

Big thanks to Shannon for keeping up and maintaining the website.

XBMC Zone Installer
http://www.xbmczone.com/plugin_details.asp?id=66

Microsoft SyncToy v2.0

2009-09-15T13:37:00.001+01:00

http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en

SyncToy helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers quickly and easily.

XBMC Xbox Trac Changelog v1.0 – XBMC plugin

2009-09-12T21:59:00.001+01:00

XBMC plugin to browse the XBMC for Xbox Trac changes from http://xbmc.org/trac.

Big thumbs up to Team XBMC in general for their work, and especially to the guys maintaining the Xbox branch.

Download:

XBMC Zone (or use XBMC Zone Installer);
Google Code (or use SVN Repo Installer);

Screenshots:

DirectX Update – August 2009

2009-09-12T10:49:00.001+01:00

The Microsoft DirectX® End-User Runtime provides updates to 9.0c and previous versions of DirectX — the core Windows® technology that drives high-speed multimedia and games on the PC.

File name	:	dxwebsetup.exe
Version	:	9.27.1734
Date Published	:	11 September 2009
Download	:	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC

2009-09-04T12:29:00.001+01:00

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Windows Virtual PC provides the capability to run multiple Windows environments such as Windows XP Mode from your Windows 7 desktop. To download Windows Virtual PC and the Windows XP Mode environment, please follow the steps below. For information on how to set up Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, check out Running Windows Virtual PC with Windows XP Mode in the Documentation section.

Catalyst “Mobility” 9.3.1 Vista legacy drivers on Windows 7

2009-08-28T21:47:00.001+01:00

Windows 7 RC default drivers for ATI Radeon Mobility X300 are working fine on my work Dell Inspiron 9300 with Aero Glass and all, but let’s try to push it a bit further.

Download Catalyst Radeon 9.3.1 legacy desktop drivers for Windows Vista x32:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_vista32.aspx

Run the package and let it extract the drivers - usually to a path like X:\ATI\Support\9-3_1_legacy_vista32-64_dd_ccc – then cancel the installation.

Download and run DriverHeaven’s Mobility Modder to modify the drivers package (see similar notes on the application download page).

I’ve tried then to run the setup.exe from the driver package as the instructions say on the Mobility Modder page, but the driver didn’t show up in the list, so I went and update the driver manually through Computer Management > Device Manager > Display adapters > ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 > Driver (tab) > Update driver > Browse my computer for driver software > Let me pick from list of device drivers on my computer > Have Disk > X:\ATI\Support\9-3_1_legacy_vista32-64_dd_ccc\Packages\Drivers\Display\LH_INF > etc. Reboot when prompted.

The updated driver didn’t change the graphics rating and I couldn’t notice any performance increase, but I’ll keep the drivers if no problems appear.

Note: I have tried the same procedure on ATI Catalyst 9.8 desktop drivers, and although the driver is being presented through the manual update procedure, on reboot I lost the Aero Glass and the maximum resolution allowed was 1600x1200. Which probably makes sense, since ATI has dropped support for the legacy chipsets in newer drivers, even if the Modder makes them appear in the .inf file.

Catalyst 9.3.1 Vista legacy drivers on Windows 7

2009-08-27T23:26:00.001+01:00

ATI’s made the Catalyst 9.3.1 Legacy Display Driver for Windows Vista 32bit work fine on Windows 7 now, no need to do any hacking, of course it comes with the note saying that’s not officially supported.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/radeonaiw_vista32.aspx

I don’t know about yous, but this gives my old system (Intel P4 3.0 GHz Prescott, 2 GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9600XT) a new lease of life, Windows 7 is working pretty much as fast as Windows XP, maybe with a little more HDD activity (although I stopped Superfetch service and turned off write-cache buffer flushing), but generally fairly happy with it. It works fine with the Aero Glass and all the nice stuff, haven’t missed running any software yet, heck, even old Halo (2003) works no problems.

Remote Desktop 6.1.7100 on Windows XP

2009-08-15T21:24:00.002+01:00

You might not be able to get the full Aero experience over Remote Desktop Client when connected to a Windows 7 host, but at least you will be able to get some improved performance when connecting from a Windows XP client – apparently to get the full feature set, you need Aero running on both machines.

You just need to copy a few files over from a Windows 7 machine, place them anywhere on your Windows XP machine, keeping the same folder structure:

%WINDIR%\mstsc.exe
%WINDIR%\mstscax.dll
%WINDIR%\en-US\mstsc.exe.mui
%WINDIR%\en-US\mstscax.exe.mui

To get the silver-blue theme you need to tick a few more boxes in the Experience tab, otherwise it will use the Classic theme.

You can notice the performance increase if you apply a desktop wallpaper, open a full screen window and then minimize it. With the standard 6.0.6001 RDP client you can notice how it draws the little squares in left-right / bottom-down order. With the new client, you won’t see that at all or very little in the last couple of rows on large resolutions, like 1920x1200.

ATI Catalyst Mobility 9.3 – Windows XP driver

2009-08-02T21:41:00.001+01:00

I’ve been looking for a while for an updated driver for ATI Mobility X300 in my Dell Inspiron 9300 work laptop running Windows XP - Dell’s driver dated back to 2005. I don’t know if this is going to help anyone nowadays when all the buzz is Vista and Windows 7, but it’s a keeper anyways as you can’t seem to be able to get it from AMD’s website.

ATI Catalyst Display Driver
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/radeonmob_xp.aspx?type=2.4.2&product=2.4.2.3.4&lang=English

Driver package (OpenDrivers.com)
http://download1.opendrivers.com/uploaddrv/display-and-video/ati-technology/9-3-mobile_xp32_dd_ccc_enu.exe