The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

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bull3964: Nov 18, 2000; DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.

Shaocaholica posted:

What I loving hate about the drat search box is that if I start typing "mspaint", I won't actually get mspaint until I type the whole thing. Even "mspain" does not return paint! How is that convenient?

Yet, if you type just 'Pa' MS paint will be the top result.

It's not optimized for file names, program names work well.

# ? May 28, 2010 04:59

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 03:09

n0tqu1tesane: May 7, 2003; She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone.; Grimey Drawer

You Am I posted:

A lot of businesses still run things, like Cisco VPN, which will not work, or is unreliable, under x64 versions of Windows.

They've got a Cisco VPN client for x64 systems now. The coworkers that I have that use it say it's been reliable. I use Shrew Soft's VPN client on my x64 home system with zero problems.

# ? May 28, 2010 04:59

revolther: May 27, 2008

Was just going to chime in, the start bar search will go through shortcuts in the start menu quick as poo poo, so any variation of "Paint" pops up quickly, where "mspaint" has to wait till a shortcut named mspaint isn't found in the start menu and the windows directory is searched. You could rename the shorcut or just step into the new age, toss nostalgia aside and refer to it as paint.

# ? May 28, 2010 05:22

Xenomorph: Jun 13, 2001

n0tqu1tesane posted:

They've got a Cisco VPN client for x64 systems now. The coworkers that I have that use it say it's been reliable. I use Shrew Soft's VPN client on my x64 home system with zero problems.

The newer "AnyConnect" client is 64-bit, and is only supported by certain Cisco VPN devices.

The older program is 32-bit only. Cisco has been giving the finger to their customers for years. 64-bit Windows came out 7 years ago or something, and Cisco just sits on their rear end, saying "gently caress YOU" to anyone that gave them thousands of $$$ for their VPN equipment.

"You just spent thousands on our poo poo? Well, the joke's on you. We ain't supporting it. Time to buy a different one."

Shrew Soft VPN all the way. Some unknown company is making a 64-bit client that works with Cisco's hardware, and they've released it free. What does that tell you about Cisco?

My last employer had enough of that poo poo and just started buying SonicWall devices instead of Cisco. We shouldn't have to scour the Internet looking for 3rd party and freeware VPN solutions simply because some multi-billion-dollar company wants to nickel and dime the gently caress out of us by refusing to support existing hardware.

# ? May 28, 2010 05:24

EvilMuppet: Jul 29, 2006; Good night catte thread, give them all many patts. I'm sorry,

Shaocaholica posted:

CS5 != just photoshop. Other CS5 apps like After Effects and Premiere Pro are only available in 64bit.

So you agree with me. Two out of 12+ products does not make "CS5" 32bit incompatible.

# ? May 28, 2010 05:52

fnordcircle: Jul 7, 2004; PTUI

I'm doing a new install on a system with an 80gig SSD and a 1TB drive.

Is there a way to define mount points during setup? I want to have both program files directories as mount points on the 1TB drive along with \Users and some other stuff. Basically everything but the root of C:\ and c:\windows.

I tried copying all files from c:\program files(x86) into the root of my drive and then deleting everything in the old folder so it would be empty for mounting but I got a bunch of access denied errors even in safe mode command prompt-only.

I haven't done anything permanent yet so I don't mind reinstalling in order to get it right.

If there isn't a way to define mount points during install is there a way to accomplish what I'm trying to do or am I stuck with \program files, etc, on the SSD?

# ? May 28, 2010 10:55

EvilMuppet: Jul 29, 2006; Good night catte thread, give them all many patts. I'm sorry,

fnordcircle posted:

I'm doing a new install on a system with an 80gig SSD and a 1TB drive.

Is there a way to define mount points during setup? I want to have both program files directories as mount points on the 1TB drive along with \Users and some other stuff. Basically everything but the root of C:\ and c:\windows.

I tried copying all files from c:\program files(x86) into the root of my drive and then deleting everything in the old folder so it would be empty for mounting but I got a bunch of access denied errors even in safe mode command prompt-only.

I haven't done anything permanent yet so I don't mind reinstalling in order to get it right.

If there isn't a way to define mount points during install is there a way to accomplish what I'm trying to do or am I stuck with \program files, etc, on the SSD?

You could use this: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx

There is probably an easier way to do it though.

# ? May 28, 2010 11:07

BangersInMyKnickers: Nov 3, 2004; I have a thing for courageous dongles

evale posted:

Securable (http://www.grc.com/securable.htm) tells me it is 64 bit capable.

64-bit forces the system to use only signed drivers for anything running in kernel mode, which is a primary vector for rootkits. So yes, you will be somewhat more secure.

# ? May 28, 2010 13:58

n0tqu1tesane: May 7, 2003; She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone.; Grimey Drawer

Xenomorph posted:

The newer "AnyConnect" client is 64-bit, and is only supported by certain Cisco VPN devices.

The older program is 32-bit only. Cisco has been giving the finger to their customers for years. 64-bit Windows came out 7 years ago or something, and Cisco just sits on their rear end, saying "gently caress YOU" to anyone that gave them thousands of $$$ for their VPN equipment.

"You just spent thousands on our poo poo? Well, the joke's on you. We ain't supporting it. Time to buy a different one."

Shrew Soft VPN all the way. Some unknown company is making a 64-bit client that works with Cisco's hardware, and they've released it free. What does that tell you about Cisco?

My last employer had enough of that poo poo and just started buying SonicWall devices instead of Cisco. We shouldn't have to scour the Internet looking for 3rd party and freeware VPN solutions simply because some multi-billion-dollar company wants to nickel and dime the gently caress out of us by refusing to support existing hardware.

No, Cicso has their older VPN client out for x64 machines now. I don't know if you have a CCO account or not, so here's a screenshot:

Yes, it took them too long to release it, but it's out there now.

# ? May 28, 2010 14:25

Shaocaholica: Oct 29, 2002; Fig. 5E

EvilMuppet posted:

So you agree with me. Two out of 12+ products does not make "CS5" 32bit incompatible.

It does for those who would use those 2 apps which rank pretty high up amongst the 12+. Also, shows the direction Adobe is going.

# ? May 28, 2010 15:12

Xenomorph: Jun 13, 2001

n0tqu1tesane posted:

No, Cicso has their older VPN client out for x64 machines now. I don't know if you have a CCO account or not, so here's a screenshot:

Yes, it took them too long to release it, but it's out there now.

That is amazing. What was it, 7 years of development?

I'll try to take a look at it later.

# ? May 28, 2010 16:17

Howler: May 21, 2003; "Hey, free sandwich"

EvilMuppet posted:

You could use this: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx

There is probably an easier way to do it though.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a built-in command called mklink that creates and manages symlinks.

code:

C:\>mklink
Creates a symbolic link.

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target

        /D      Creates a directory symbolic link.  Default is a file
                symbolic link.
        /H      Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
        /J      Creates a Directory Junction.
        Link    specifies the new symbolic link name.
        Target  specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link
                refers to.

Though I'm not sure if you could use it to redirect already in-use system folders like Program Files.

# ? May 28, 2010 16:27

n0tqu1tesane: May 7, 2003; She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone.; Grimey Drawer

Xenomorph posted:

That is amazing. What was it, 7 years of development?

I'll try to take a look at it later.

I'm convinced it was more of a marketing than a technical reason as to why it took so long. Trying to push people to purchase SSL VPN upgrades.

# ? May 28, 2010 16:31

Shaocaholica: Oct 29, 2002; Fig. 5E

I need to trim down the footprint of Win7. I've got a laptop with just a 80GB Intel SSD and I need to work on a video project which will live on the SSD. Right now the space is pretty tight with all the source material but I know its not going to work when space runs out. Right now the windows dir is showing ~12GB. What can I cut out? I don't mind if I break some things so long as I can still work.

# ? May 28, 2010 18:28

fnordcircle: Jul 7, 2004; PTUI

Howler posted:

Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a built-in command called mklink that creates and manages symlinks.

Though I'm not sure if you could use it to redirect already in-use system folders like Program Files.

So far I'm not having any luck. Sucks, really.

I'm not sure how people get around this, typically. Do they just create a d:\program files and manually redirect everything over there?

I can do that but I hate ugly solutions. Looks like that's my only hope because I can't figure out a way to do it.

If they would just let you define mount points during setup it could be done easily. But unless there is some super secret 'advanced setup' I'm not aware of you can't.

# ? May 28, 2010 19:35

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

Shaocaholica posted:

What I loving hate about the drat search box is that if I start typing "mspaint", I won't actually get mspaint until I type the whole thing. Even "mspain" does not return paint! How is that convenient?

Type "paint".

edit: Oops, there's another page.

# ? May 28, 2010 20:29

WTFBEES: Apr 21, 2005; butt

Shaocaholica posted:

I need to trim down the footprint of Win7. I've got a laptop with just a 80GB Intel SSD and I need to work on a video project which will live on the SSD. Right now the space is pretty tight with all the source material but I know its not going to work when space runs out. Right now the windows dir is showing ~12GB. What can I cut out? I don't mind if I break some things so long as I can still work.

If you haven't ready done so, disabling Hibernation will free up hard drive space equivalent to how much memory you have. It's pretty much the fastest way to save a good bit of hard drive space.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/819-hibernate-enable-disable.html

# ? May 28, 2010 20:47

SRQ: Nov 9, 2009

I already have 7 installed, and I want to set up a duel boot with XP to play some older games (XP Mode doesn't cut it, I tried.). As far as I know XPs boot loader will override 7s if I install XP after 7, is there any way around this?

# ? May 28, 2010 21:02

trilljester: Dec 7, 2004; The People's Tight End.

n0tqu1tesane posted:

No, Cicso has their older VPN client out for x64 machines now. I don't know if you have a CCO account or not, so here's a screenshot:

Yes, it took them too long to release it, but it's out there now.

I can't get this to install on my x64 Win 7 machine. It's the DNE adapter that fails to install. I've tried everything under the book to get it to install, but it always fail telling me that it needs to reboot to free up locked resources or something to that effect.

# ? May 28, 2010 21:10

LooseChanj: Feb 17, 2006; Logicaaaaaaaaal!

SRQ posted:

I already have 7 installed, and I want to set up a duel boot with XP to play some older games (XP Mode doesn't cut it, I tried.). As far as I know XPs boot loader will override 7s if I install XP after 7, is there any way around this?

I think if you just run the recovery option from the 7 dvd it'll fix that.

# ? May 28, 2010 22:17

FISHMANPET: Mar 3, 2007; Sweet 'N Sour
Can't
Melt
Steel Beams

fnordcircle posted:

So far I'm not having any luck. Sucks, really.

I'm not sure how people get around this, typically. Do they just create a d:\program files and manually redirect everything over there?

I can do that but I hate ugly solutions. Looks like that's my only hope because I can't figure out a way to do it.

If they would just let you define mount points during setup it could be done easily. But unless there is some super secret 'advanced setup' I'm not aware of you can't.

Here's how I did it:
Install normally
Boot into a live CD enviroment
Copy Program Files to D:
Make a junction from C:Program Files to D:Program Files
Change some keys with regedit so the default Program Files location is on D:
This link describes basically what to do: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/16917-Custom-install-move-Program-Files-and-Users-to-separate-partition-disk

# ? May 28, 2010 23:36

evale: Dec 20, 2009

BangersInMyKnickers posted:

64-bit forces the system to use only signed drivers for anything running in kernel mode, which is a primary vector for rootkits. So yes, you will be somewhat more secure.

Took the plunge. Don't really see a difference apart from the system using 1GB of RAM instead of 700MB on idle. Always nice to be somewhat more secure.

# ? May 29, 2010 00:55

Xenomorph: Jun 13, 2001

trilljester posted:

I can't get this to install on my x64 Win 7 machine. It's the DNE adapter that fails to install. I've tried everything under the book to get it to install, but it always fail telling me that it needs to reboot to free up locked resources or something to that effect.

It would not install for me originally. The error it gave had to do with having too many network thingies installed. VirtualPC, VirtualBox, ShrewSoft VPN, etc. I removed ShrewSoft and it let me install the Cisco VPN.

This may help you with your DNE error:
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/lp/lp_1680845.asp

# ? May 29, 2010 06:22

jackpot: Aug 31, 2004; First cousin to the Black Rabbit himself. Such was Woundwort's monument...and perhaps it would not have displeased him.<

Trying to clean up some junk folders, I try to delete one and get this:

quote:

You need permission to perform this action.

You require permission from the computer's administrator to make changes to this file.

I am an administrator. What gives?

# ? May 29, 2010 06:32

kapinga: Oct 12, 2005; I am not a number

jackpot posted:

Trying to clean up some junk folders, I try to delete one and get this:

I am an administrator. What gives?

It often shows up when the file is in use, probably from an administrator level process (don't quote me on that). Give it a few minutes and you should be able to delete it.

# ? May 29, 2010 06:55

rolleyes: Nov 16, 2006; Sometimes you have to roll the hard... two?

evale posted:

Took the plunge. Don't really see a difference apart from the system using 1GB of RAM instead of 700MB on idle. Always nice to be somewhat more secure.

I know the x64 binaries are a little larger but that seems like a surprising jump. I'm on 7 x64 Pro, the system's been up for about 36 hours (mainly just web browsing and running PS3 media server, although that isn't loaded up at the moment) and I've got 0.97GB in use according to task manager, with another 1GB used as cache and 2GB completely unused.

I suppose it could be down to extra driver widgets (stuff in the system tray etc) as well. Oh well, memory is cheap these days anyway.

# ? May 29, 2010 12:03

Iblys: Sep 23, 2003; gay for iBag....i mean, disconnect and self-destruct one bullet at a time...

jackpot posted:

Trying to clean up some junk folders, I try to delete one and get this:

I am an administrator. What gives?

Take ownership of the folder.

# ? May 29, 2010 14:14

LooseChanj: Feb 17, 2006; Logicaaaaaaaaal!

jackpot posted:

I am an administrator. What gives?

UAC. You might be an admin, but if you've got that turned on anything you run gets run as a regular user.

# ? May 29, 2010 15:31

GreenNight: Feb 19, 2006; Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

n0tqu1tesane posted:

I'm convinced it was more of a marketing than a technical reason as to why it took so long. Trying to push people to purchase SSL VPN upgrades.

Pretty much this. We had to purchase a load of SSL licences because they told us they will stop supporting the IPSEC client. It's like when they changed their ip phone licensing - anything to nickel and dime companies for more money. gently caress Cisco.

# ? May 29, 2010 16:44

mcsuede: Dec 30, 2003; Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.
-Greta Garbo

Having issues lately with files saved to desktop not showing up on the desktop. They're there when viewed from explorer. :iiam:

# ? May 29, 2010 18:37

trilljester: Dec 7, 2004; The People's Tight End.

Xenomorph posted:

It would not install for me originally. The error it gave had to do with having too many network thingies installed. VirtualPC, VirtualBox, ShrewSoft VPN, etc. I removed ShrewSoft and it let me install the Cisco VPN.

This may help you with your DNE error:
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/lp/lp_1680845.asp

I tried a few times after running the utility on the Citrix site, but with no luck. Everytime I install, I get this error:

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ? May 29, 2010 18:57

Lum: Aug 13, 2003

Shaocaholica posted:

*Posted in the other windows thread but didn't get any answers*

Why do companies like Dell and HP still offer 32bit windows on their high end workstations and laptops? Ok, I guess the option should be there for the rare case that the customer needs some sort of rare compatibility issue but it seems that its way too easy for a consumer to choose 32bit windows on these systems. Its often the first and default choice. If the costs are the same, why bother keeping such a complex inventory system? Why set yourself up for future service calls from customers who inadvertently purchased 32bit windows and want/need to upgrade because of ram or 64bit only apps like CS5?

I can understand that MS needed to make a 32bit build for all the 32bit hardware that is fully capable of running Win7 (for which I am grateful) but for a PC company that designs and sells NEW PCs to have that option as default perplexes me.

You'll probably find that defaulting to 32bit results in less returns than defaulting to 64bit.

For the idiots who didn't do their research, the system as it arrives will work perfectly and they wont find any problem until a few years down the line (when it's out of warranty) they go to put in more memory or whatever. At this point they may even end up buying a new computer.

If they supplied a 64 bit system, when said idiot goes to install their 16bit version of Paint Shop Pro 3 or whatever ancient app they refuse to let go that "worked perfectly on my old computer", it will fail to run because 64bit Windows doesn't support 16bit apps.

# ? May 29, 2010 19:51

Shaocaholica: Oct 29, 2002; Fig. 5E

Lum posted:

You'll probably find that defaulting to 32bit results in less returns than defaulting to 64bit.

For the idiots who didn't do their research, the system as it arrives will work perfectly and they wont find any problem until a few years down the line (when it's out of warranty) they go to put in more memory or whatever. At this point they may even end up buying a new computer.

If they supplied a 64 bit system, when said idiot goes to install their 16bit version of Paint Shop Pro 3 or whatever ancient app they refuse to let go that "worked perfectly on my old computer", it will fail to run because 64bit Windows doesn't support 16bit apps.

Wait, the 32bit build of Win7 supports 16bit apps but the 64bit doesn't? Also, how often do you think people cling to these old apps? I haven't worked in the service industry in almost 10 years and even when I did (read XP days) I never came across any cases like that.

# ? May 29, 2010 19:55

Star War Sex Parrot: Oct 2, 2003

Shaocaholica posted:

Wait, the 32bit build of Win7 supports 16bit apps but the 64bit doesn't?

Correct. WoW64 can't run 16-bit applications, so that includes Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, IA-64 and x64 versions of Windows Server 2003, 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, as well as the 64-bit edition of Windows 7.

# ? May 29, 2010 20:05

Xenomorph: Jun 13, 2001

GreenNight posted:

Pretty much this. We had to purchase a load of SSL licences because they told us they will stop supporting the IPSEC client. It's like when they changed their ip phone licensing - anything to nickel and dime companies for more money. gently caress Cisco.

Well, I'm just kinda glad they finally released a client.

I posted guides on my site for using 32-bit Cisco VPN under a virtual machine, with info on routing the Host system's network through the guest as a work-around.
Obviously no one I worked with before wanted to even begin loving with that, so everyone was told "don't use 64-bit Windows."
I've had 4 Gigs+ of RAM for years, with 8 Gigs+ during the past two years, so I didn't really want to give up 64-bit.

Then Shrew VPN magically came out, and I started writing documentation to use that client, as well as all the different screens you had to type things in or check off to make it Cisco IPSec-compatible. It's kind of a quirky application. It has separate tray/task bar locations for its main window and the connection window, and clicking the "X" in the connection window (which causes it to hide with Cisco) closes the program and disconnects the user. So there was a bit of training and tinkering to do with that.

Now that the 64-bit client is out, we can keep using our existing hardware without worrying about a new one in the budget, and I can keep using our existing Cisco VPN documentation.

# ? May 29, 2010 21:32

GreenNight: Feb 19, 2006; Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

That makes sense. We got in a couple years ago and upgraded from our PIX to 2 redundant ASA's and just dropped all IPSEC and went straight SSL.

# ? May 29, 2010 23:26

evale: Dec 20, 2009

rolleyes posted:

I know the x64 binaries are a little larger but that seems like a surprising jump. I'm on 7 x64 Pro, the system's been up for about 36 hours (mainly just web browsing and running PS3 media server, although that isn't loaded up at the moment) and I've got 0.97GB in use according to task manager, with another 1GB used as cache and 2GB completely unused.

I suppose it could be down to extra driver widgets (stuff in the system tray etc) as well. Oh well, memory is cheap these days anyway.

I use it mainly for browsing and a little word processing and 1GB has been the norm ever since the switch.

Definitely recommending 64bit even if someone doesn't have 4GB of RAM. Everything has been working well and there have been no dramas with drivers or what not.

# ? May 30, 2010 00:37

Blue Footed Booby: Oct 4, 2006; got those happy feet

mcsuede posted:

Having issues lately with files saved to desktop not showing up on the desktop. They're there when viewed from explorer.

I have this problem randomly, and had it in Vista, too. There's no rhyme or reason to it aside from seeming more common with archives unzipped to the desktops than things saved normally. :iiam:

is right because it's really drat weird.

# ? May 30, 2010 05:36

Number_6: Jul 23, 2006; BAN ALL GAS GUZZLERS

(except for mine); Pillbug

Shaocaholica posted:

Wait, the 32bit build of Win7 supports 16bit apps but the 64bit doesn't? Also, how often do you think people cling to these old apps? I haven't worked in the service industry in almost 10 years and even when I did (read XP days) I never came across any cases like that.

I'm disappointed that Win7 x64 won't run my ancient 16-bit freeware copy of LView Pro 1.something. Every new free image editor I try seems to have been designed for maximum interface complexity and user frustration.

# ? May 30, 2010 05:36

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 03:09

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Number_6 posted:

I'm disappointed that Win7 x64 won't run my ancient 16-bit freeware copy of LView Pro 1.something. Every new free image editor I try seems to have been designed for maximum interface complexity and user frustration.

You need IrfanView:
http://download.cnet.com/IrfanView/3000-2192_4-10021962.html?tag=mncol

It works on all iterations of windows, is lightweight but powerful.

# ? May 30, 2010 05:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

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