Our Favorite Tweaks

[Perris Calderon]

this is pretty important for biginners;


a little ditty for those of you that don't know how to prevent malicous cookies from gettin on your box;

first, you need to open security properties...the easiest way to do this, is to double click the tiny planet icon that's on the bottom right of your browser...then hit security, then hit restrickted sites.

now paste the following sites...include the little *...this is a wild charachter, so just include it;

*.valueclick.com
*.valueclick.net
*.phase2media.com
*.admonitor.com
*.admonitor.net
*.190.com
*.flycast.com

there are others, but this is a start

 

[Perris Calderon]

now another security fix for those new to computing;

...don't open any mail that has a file extension at the back that is .exe, .com, .bat, .pif, .scr, or .vbs,...

unless you are absolutely expecting that particular file, and even then, get personal contact with the sender before you do open it.

These are programs and scripts, and that's how viruses arive...these extensions; gif, .jpg, or .wav, are usually fine

now, even when the attachment is from someone you know, viri are sophisticated enough to use the mail client from someone you know, with their name when they propagate

just don't open any of these unless you get specific personal instruction to do so from the sender

 

[Perris Calderon]

you have priceless bookmarks that you won't be able to remember if anything happens you your box

...sites you know you want to visit, but will forget, and all the links you visit every day...and then those you might forget the address if you ever loose the file

back these up twice...once in another folder, and then from there to a floppy, or wherever you want off the box...here's how;

From the browser, hit file, Import and Export...there's the wizard, from here you can export cookies or favorites or both...follow the wizard from there

 

[Perris Calderon]

ha...you can send along a voice message with your mail...cool

first, open the sound recorder, thus;

Start> Programs> Accessories> Entertainment, and then click Sound Recorder.

On the File menu, click New.
To begin recording, click Record, and to stop recording, click Stop.
Save the .wav file to a folder on your desktop so you can find it


Attach this folder to your mail.

 

[Perris Calderon]

allright...pretty simple tip

if you want a program to always be available in the start menue no matter how rarely you use it...easy

Right-click the link to the program on the Start menu, hit Pin to Start Menu. that program gets moved permanently to the top of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

 

[Perris Calderon]

ok, more cool stuff...very cool stuff

I like things that I don't use to be as small as possible if I can't make them invisable...

check this out, we're gonna shrink that blue titile bar that's on the browser;

go to your desktop, right click, hit properties, hit appearance, hit advanced...now, in the pull down menue, go to title bar, first, you have to make the font smaller, I would also change the font to something more unique.

now that that's done, you can shrink the title bar also

one draw back, the title bar buttons become smaller also, but this is no big deal, as the tile bar itself is a maximize and minimize button

you can then do the same thing, and make the scroll bar, which we all do use, a little wider....make sure you hit apply before you close all windows, otherwise the settings won't work.

a quick fix from yoyo for the boxes if they become too small for your liking;

If they become too small you can make them a little bit wider. At least if you use classic look. Judging from screenshots posted here still popular.
Open regedit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop\WindowMetrics and increase the value for CaptionWidth. I made it 2x the value of CaptionHeight.

 

[Perris Calderon]

when you want to open a link in a new window instead of the same window, hold down then shift key when you hit the link

 

[Perris Calderon]

this is a brand new tweak that leedog asked for and yoyo wrote

leedog asked[

In a browser window, is there any quick way to copy the path of a picture? Its annoying to click properties then copy the path manually.

and yoyo came up with;


To have a new item "Image: Copy Path to Clipboard" in the context menu of images in Internet Explorer:

Paste this into notepad and save as .html file.


<HTML>

<input type="edit" name="location" value="">

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" defer>

var parentwin = external.menuArguments;
document.all.location.value = parentwin.event.srcElement.src;
document.all.location.select();
document.execCommand("Copy");

</SCRIPT>
</HTML>




Create a reg file with this content and merge it.

(Let's say you saved the text above as imagepath.html to D:\test.)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\Image: INSTEAD OF THIS COPY YOUR PATH TO THE CLIPBOARD]
@="D:\\test\\imagepath.html"
"contexts"=dword:00000002

 

[Perris Calderon]

nice enyo, thanx

 

[Perris Calderon]

well, everyone probably knows by now that for the time being, microsoft has not kept up to date with their browser, internet explorer

there are going to be some sites that ie will not express properly, or even at all

now, I haven't run into a problem yet, but the sites that ie has trouble with will grow.

you're going to need another browser that handles the latest standards

I'm recomending mozilla firebird, which is a development branch of mozilla

it's pretty close to internet explorer, and you can configure it so that it looks and feels close enough that you won't be off set if you're used to ie.

/me suggesting the as your alternative browser...free, lots of plugins and features, and plenty of people wind up making this their primary browser

we also have some great support for pheonix and mozilla here at ntfs, so you don't have to go somewhere new for support

if you're going to get this browser going, visit our firebird support sticky

 

[Perris Calderon]

ha!!!

Iv'e been looking for this for a long time...too easy so probably most of you knew it, but I did not;

when I'm using my search tree, sometimes I need to go to my favorites window

well, then I want to go back to the google search results that I had up before but phuwey

search brings up a new google blank page...my previous search results are lost

NOT!!!!!

just bring focus into the search by tapping in an empty spot in the tree.

NOW JUST HIT YOUR BACK BUTTON ON YOUR KEYBOARD...NOT THE BROWSER!!!

bing...previous search results.

I feel so silly not knowing how to do this

 

[Perris Calderon]

here's a new one for me.

I started doing common searches aoften...like for a particular type of document...you know, either a short story, or screenplay, or an instructional of some sort

then I have some movie files

then music files.

so, instead of clicking throught the search dialogue time and again, i just save commonsearches to a search folder I oput on my desktop

pretty simple.

hit f3, then set your search parameters...make sure you include whatever wildcard...ie;*mpg

then click file, save search...send it to the file you have put with all your other common searchs.

now, for a common search, open your search file, click the one you want

 

[Perris Calderon]

one of my favorites, and this never made it into the origianl sticky, so this is going to be new for some of yout that even went through the original thread

tools>internet options>colors

CHANGE YOUR "VISITED" COLOR

CHANGE YOUR "UNVISITED" COLOR

CHANGE YOUR "HOVER" COLOR

make them all completely differant colors so the contrast is obvious

 

[Perris Calderon]

Sometimes you want to print just part of a Web page, but clicking the Print button spits out page after page of information you don't want or need. If you use Internet Explorer 5,0 or later, here's an easy solution:

his is great for priinting just what you need from a web page, instead of all or the grapghics;

hlight the part of the page you want to print

k, ht File, Print...In the Print dialog box, look for "Page Range" hit the "Selection option".

nice

 

[Perris Calderon]

this is excellant for anyone that uses both browsers, internet explorer, and mozilla.

I need to toggle when I'm in ie...I need at times to go to one of my favorites, but use mozilla...the reverse is also true.

anyway, yoyo came up with a way to launch mozilla while in internet explorer with a right click.

if you're interested, instructions on this thread

 

[Perris Calderon]

ha, I was just reminded about this tweak for peeps that use the native defrag utility in xp.

it doesn't allow for scheduled defrags...this bat file will do that for you;

first, cut the following exactl;

defrag.exe c: -f

now, open notepad, and copy that in the notepad.

hit file, then hit save as

now, type or cut in the following;

defrag .bat...( name it anything you like, but the end mut be .bat)

save this to your desktop, or wherever you like.

that's it...schedule that file, and you've scheduled a defrag.

if you have multiple drives, paste in more lines of the same, but change the drive letter from "c" to whatever drives you have.

as many drives as you have, make another line.

 

[Perris Calderon]

this is pretty nice.

I constantly download to my desktop, I use a common folder names...if I have tons, or want to fill up a folder with other folders, I'll get "do you want to overwrite.

I don't, but I also don't want ot click no on every folder

hit shift, no.

that's the same as "no to all"

that's cool, saves me some time

 

[Perris Calderon]

those of us that use fast user switching need this tweak to keep the internet connectiona live

windows key+r

gp here;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon

Then right-click the right-hand pane, New/String Value.

paste this value

KeepRasConnections

Double click the new key and set it to 1.


now you won't loose your intenet connection when you switch users

 

[Perris Calderon]

here're a couple of board tweaks for the new members to make this board as much fun as possible

1) the first thing you have to do is find the "view new posts" link top right.

just right click and drag that over to your favorites tree...this search will now be a favorite...I have this as my home page by the way

2) next, do the same thing with your in box for the PMS you get or for when you want to send, this will save you a few clicks

3)do the same thing with the "search" link, and if you're always changing your signature, I would also do this with the link to your user information.

have some fun with all these links, make them as simple to get to as you can...then when you have a bunch, put them all in one folder in your favorites bar to make everything more even more convenient

 

[Perris Calderon]

one of the biggest time saves on this board is to use "tab, enter" when you are making a post...instead of using the mouse to find that "submit reply" button, just hit "tab" then hit enter