Entries for dentaku

Why am I getting Vista Service Pack 2 three months later? [Why am I getting Vista Service Pack 2 three months later?]

dentaku — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:52:14 GMT

Sometime last night my computer downloaded Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (KB948465) which is dated 6/30/2009 but I haven't installed it yet.

I checked and my Vista32bit says it's at Service Pack 1.

Why would I only be getting Service Pack 2 three months after it was "published"?

in reply to Why am I getting Vista Service Pack 2 three months later?

I finally cloned my 320GB drive to a 640GB drive [I finally cloned my 320GB drive to a 640GB drive]

dentaku — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:51:03 GMT

I know this sounds like an add but since Jamie can post about re-installing his OS I can post about NOT re-installing my OS :)

Besides, this software is free for 15 days and it's not like you're going to take more than 15 days to clone a drive.

Vista is working fine and I didn't want to re-install everything so when I got my new WD6400AAKS 2 days ago I decided to use an HDD cloning program for the first time ever.

Since people where having problems getting cloned Vista boot drives to boot when it first came out I was glad to see that Acronis came out with something simpler than their other more full featured disk imaging products named Acronis Migrate Easy 7 that is perfectly Vista compatible.

Basically I just ran Migrate Easy on my 250GB drive that also has Windows on it, made the new drive bootable withing Migrate Easy and then pointed it to the 320GB as source and 640GB as destination. After quite some time I had a 640GB drive that's a perfect clone of my 320GB drive.

Migrate Easy 7 is as simple as it gets.

in reply to I finally cloned my 320GB drive to a 640GB drive

Jeff Sandquist's East Coast HQ? or "Paul's Secret Project"? [Jeff Sandquist's East Coast HQ? or "Paul's Secret Project"?]

dentaku — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:01:35 GMT

I can't think of how his hair/antennae would look from that angle. Does anyone have a photo of him taken from that position?

in reply to Jeff Sandquist's East Coast HQ? or "Paul's Secret Project"?

Favorite disk imaging software? [Favorite disk imaging software?]

dentaku — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:19:53 GMT

I need more HDD space but I don't want to re-install my OS, apps, virtual instruments etc. because my system is setup just the way I like.

If I buy a new 1TB drive, which software have you guys used successfully to transfer the contents of a smaller drive (with Vista-32bit on it) to a new one? I have another drive with XP on it that I can boot into so it doesn't necessarily need to be something that you run from a bootable CD.

I've actually never messed with disk imaging software before other than once on someone else's computer and we used a utility provided by the harddrive manufacturer.

Hmmm... I think Western Digital has a free tool that does this. I'm going to check it out.

in reply to Favorite disk imaging software?

Bing Canada, now with fancier backgrounds :) [Bing Canada, now with fancier backgrounds :)]

dentaku — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:44:59 GMT

I just noticed that Bing Canada now has the special background images with hotspots and such just like the US version.

in reply to Bing Canada, now with fancier backgrounds :)

Win7 and 1152X864 on my old Trinitron = GRRRR...=FIXED! [Win7 and 1152X864 on my old Trinitron = GRRRR...=FIXED!]

dentaku — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:13:09 GMT

Do any of you have problems with Win7 on CRTs?

I have a 19" CRT and a 19" LCD. I always use the CRT on the left in 1152X864 as monitor #1 and the LCD in 1440X900 on the right as #2. In Vista and XP it's always worked fine.

In Win7 64bit build 7100 and the PDC version (I don't remember the version number) I can't use 1152X864 correctly on my CRT and for some reason it always thinks the LCD is #1. I can make the CRT my primary and it works like always but it's still annoying that the CRT is still named #2.

What I mean by using the CRT in 1152X864 correctly is that when I set Win7 to use that resolution my video card (GeForce 8800GTS) just puts out a 1280X1024 signal to my monitor (the onscreen display of the monitor even says so) with a little 1152X864 picture centered in it so I have big 3cm black borders and the text isn't any bigger because it's still just running 1280X1024.

I tried using both the windows update nvidia drivers, the 64bit Win7 drivers from Nvidias website and the Vista 64 drivers but it still doesn't work correctly.

in reply to Win7 and 1152X864 on my old Trinitron = GRRRR...=FIXED!

Win7 Multitouch and Open Labs [Win7 Multitouch and Open Labs]

dentaku — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:32:21 GMT

This is the kind of stuff Windows 7 multitouch is perfect for.
http://www.openlabs.com/DBeat.html
I can't see using touch on a regular vertical monitor anywaw. It's much better suited for tablets, portable devices and stuff like this where you're using it like you would a musical instrument.

They seem to be saying that they will support it once Win7 is released. I'm sure they've been testing out the betas already anyway.

in reply to Win7 Multitouch and Open Labs

This Week On Channel 9 theme song? [This Week On Channel 9 theme song?]

dentaku — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:22:10 GMT

I was looking through the oldest This Week On Channel 9 video posts and I can't find if anyone mentioned the name of the opening title.

So... what is the song used in the opening?

in reply to This Week On Channel 9 theme song?

Recording output of Windows Narrator to .WAV [Recording output of Windows Narrator to .WAV]

dentaku — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:56:55 GMT

I there a way to record the output of Vista's Narrator to a file?
I'd like to type out some text in Notepad and have it create a .WAV.

Old soundcards had a record what you hear option but that doesn't exist anymore and I doubt my Echo Mia Midi would be able to do that anyway.

in reply to Recording output of Windows Narrator to .WAV

Someone should interview people like the Open Labs crew [Someone should interview people like the Open Labs crew]

dentaku — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:12:46 GMT

OK, I've always said that the best advertising that Microsoft can do is to simply show creative people using their stuff (and of course teach people the fundamentals of using an OS so they won't get frustrated using it but that's another topic) and I was just watching videos on the Open Labs website.
I would LOVE to see someone at C9 or maybe C10 interview the creative geeks at Open Labs. They make very interesting products which are basically a PC inside of a 5 or 3 octave keyboard named the NeKo and the MiKo. They're regular Windows machines, some of them with touchscreens, some without and they're being used by REALY big name musicians. You know that uber-trendy musicians and DJs love flashing their glowing MBP lids on stage but some of the real important work is actually being done on a custom built Windows machine.

Look at these videos: http://www.openlabs.com/artist-videos.html

I remember seeing an interview with the Cakewalk people quite a while ago but Open Labs would be very intersting.
http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Inside+Out/Cakewalk-Making-Music-with-Sonar/

in reply to Someone should interview people like the Open Labs crew

DIY surface computing [DIY surface computing]

dentaku — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:43:32 GMT

It's a cardboard box and a webcam :)
Of course you can't see an image on the "surface" so I guess it's more like a DIY multi-touch controler.

in reply to DIY surface computing

First decent Songsmith Song? [First decent Songsmith Song?]

dentaku — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:42:10 GMT

http://www.microspotting.com/2009/01/songsmith#referrer
A song about a dog named Sassafras by Ariel Meadow Stallings

I'm guessing it's because Ariel has a history in musical theater.

I'm sure there are other good Songsmith songs, it's just that I've only heard the funny/cheesy ones :)

in reply to First decent Songsmith Song?

Hiding AutoPlay menu items? [Hiding AutoPlay menu items?]

dentaku — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:44:32 GMT

When I set up a new Vista machine for someone I always wish there was a way to edit the AutoPlay menu that pops up when you plug in a camera or SD card with photos on it.
There's so much useless stuff in there that just confuses new users and of course they think it's just a normal part of Vista when in fact it's all the useless shovelware that came with the new machine that has added all the entries in the menu.

I'd love to be able to shave it down to the point where it only shows "Import Photos And Videos Using Windows Live Photo Gallery" and "Open Folder To View Files".

Does anyone know how to do this? I think TweakUI could do this in XP but TweakUI doesn't seem to work in Vista.

The shovelware adds these entries so there must be a way to do the opposite and remove them. I haven't been able to make sense of the registry entries for autoplay handlers (I just don't dare to mess with them).

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Hiding AutoPlay menu items? [Hiding AutoPlay menu items?]

dentaku — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:59:43 GMT

in reply to Hiding AutoPlay menu items?

Skewing Scott Hanselman's data is fun :) [Skewing Scott Hanselman's data is fun :)]

dentaku — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:11:03 GMT

Everyone (all 2 of you who will read this) go to http://www.tinyurl.com/bigdemo which is Scott Hanselman's Silverlight BabySmash demo and keep pressing D for Dentaku over and over again.
Then: go to http://www.hanselman.com/babysmashmvc/BabySmashChartSLTestPage.html (or run it in a second window) and watch the graph move and we will defeat the A people :)

Scott's talk at PDC 2008 was great by the way.
http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008/TL49/

in reply to Skewing Scott Hanselman's data is fun :)

Who's inside the big 9 guy suit at the PDC? [Who's inside the big 9 guy suit at the PDC?]

dentaku — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:18:06 GMT

Who's inside the big 9 guy suit at the PDC?

in reply to Who's inside the big 9 guy suit at the PDC?

Vista performance myths and Mark Russinovich [Vista performance myths and Mark Russinovich]

dentaku — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:19:50 GMT

People at computer magazines and blogers who spread out of date information should really watch this video.
http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/Mark-Russinovich-Discusses-Vista-Peformance/

At the end they address some common myths and give some very useful information.
It's a shame that good information like this doesn't spread around like the bad information does because it's not sensational enough to create headlines that create page hits.

in reply to Vista performance myths and Mark Russinovich

ZUNE black border around the LCD [ZUNE black border around the LCD]

dentaku — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:58:37 GMT

I think the next wave of flash Zunes should do away with that giant black border around the screen.
If they keep the size of the LCD the same but get rid of the border they could make the entire device much thinner.

Of course if they decide to keep the device's size the same size, why not just use a bigger LCD and fill up the entire space.

Here's an example (this is the one I'd get if I was in the market for a new mp3 player)
https://zuneoriginals.net/ca/Flash/ZuneFlashSite.aspx?PreconfiguredId=f7ffbc21-d3cf-4520-80e8-e04290dfbdb2#/HYA-00005/VGA-00101/?0=ZUNE&1=16GB&2=

in reply to ZUNE black border around the LCD

Live Photo Gallery Autoplay Import problem Grrr... help [Live Photo Gallery Autoplay Import problem Grrr... help]

dentaku — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:51:52 GMT

2 days ago I found that the photo importer for Windows Live Photo Gallery (which is so much better than the default one) was broken so I un-installed WLPG then re-installed it and now it works again.
Yesterday I was setting up a brand new system and the same thing happened.

When you choose WLPG from autoplay to import photos from a memory card it gives you this error:
This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel.

It seems to have happened after doing an update. I see this morning that "Update For Windows Live Photo Gallery KB 955359" showed up and I'm pretty sure it's the culprit.

QUESTIONS:
Do any of you have the same problem?
Why does this update show up at all considering the it's a fix for XP and I'm running Vista32?

Maybe this update isn't meant to show up for Vista users but for some reason it is and in turn it breaks WLPG.

in reply to Live Photo Gallery Autoplay Import problem Grrr... help

IRCOS software and giant DELL laptops [IRCOS software and giant DELL laptops]

dentaku — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:47:35 GMT

I don't know what this has to do with C9 but this is the Coffeehouse and it's software related so...

I noticed all the way through the Olympics that the gymnastics judges had big Dell XPS machines (Like Dan Fernandez uses). While watching the rhythmic gymnastic finals I found out that the software they use is called IRCOS and it's a Windows app that comes with .NET framework 2.0 on the CD. The IRCOS viewer is even available to download on their site.

It looks like very interesting software that uses a bunch of high speed cameras and terabytes of space to store all this information and distribute it to all the judges computers.

in reply to IRCOS software and giant DELL laptops

NBC Olympics outside the us? [NBC Olympics outside the us?]

dentaku — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:33:03 GMT

Both the nbcolympics site and the Media Center TV Tronic plugin don't work in Canada. Has anyone found a way of getting them to work?

I don't really like NBC's way of covering the Olympics and the CBC is better but I'd like to see how well these 2 services work anyway.

I've tried using american proxies to get the nbc website to work but I haven't been able to find one that works.

in reply to NBC Olympics outside the us?

Shadow Copy works in Vista home Premium :) [Shadow Copy works in Vista home Premium :)]

dentaku — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:30:25 GMT

Is there realy a GOOD reason why all versions of Vista create shadow copies but only certain versions actually give you a way to take advantage of them?

I never realised that my Vista Home Premium was making shadow copies because I knew that feature wasn't available on my version.
I just found Shadow Explorer and it works, even in Home Premium.

This is another reason why there MUST be less versions of the next Windows OS. One Windows for regular computers and a separate server OS (like they have now). That's all they need.

in reply to Shadow Copy works in Vista home Premium :)

Microsoft Videos led me to Windows Help [Microsoft Videos led me to Windows Help]

dentaku — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:33:38 GMT

I was looking at the Windows Video beta site and from there it linked me to http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/default.mspx
Who knew? I had no clue that site existed.

It actually has video showing how to do basic stuff like make folders and copy files, the stuff I keep ranting about that people should learn about before ever trying to master more advanced specialized software.

I like the video player on the Microsoft Video site.
Much much much more people need to see stuff like this. (I'm gonna try and embed a video using the embed link provided on that site, let's see if C9 accepts this code)
<iframe src="http://preview.microsoft.com/video/player.aspx?video=39aa786a-4328-4617-afd9-907b53e4f5e3" allowtransparency="true" width="430" height="326" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><a href="http://preview.microsoft.com/video/videoDetails.aspx?video=39aa786a-4328-4617-afd9-907b53e4f5e3&vp_evt=eref&vp_video=Demo%3a+Working+with+files+and+folders" >Demo: Working with files and folders</a>

in reply to Microsoft Videos led me to Windows Help

Windows volume control with pro ASIO soundcard? [Windows volume control with pro ASIO soundcard?]

dentaku — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:37:50 GMT

It seems like most of the common professional or semi-professional soundcards use their own volume controls so any application that relies on the windows volume controls won't be able to be adjusted.

Ever since I built my new computer that doesn't have a GAME port that I can use for MIDI I've been thinking about getting an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 now that it actually has official Vista support (no official SP1 support but can't see how that matters) but I keep reading how the volume mixer doesn't do anyting so obviously any regular software that uses it including things like Media Player and Media Center would be annoying to use.

QUESTION: Can I use the pro audio card for software like Sonar and Ableton that need low latency and still just use the Soundmax audio on my motherboard AT THE SAME TIME for everything else like games?

I've never used a system with 2 audio devices before. Am I asking for trouble?

in reply to Windows volume control with pro ASIO soundcard?

my first SYNC experience [my first SYNC experience]

dentaku — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:26:21 GMT

My neighbours just got a new Ford Fusion and I was testing out the SYNC system. It indexed my 8GB ZEN quite quickly and it recognized a thumbdrive very easily.
Currently I just plug the headphone out of my ZEN into the AUX of my stereo in my old Corolla and I see that all new Corollas have the jack built right into the dash like the newer Civics but being able to access all the music through a USB port is even nicer.
I wish Toyota would add something like SYNC to their cars. I read that Hyundai and Kia might add it to their new models.

I find that it takes a bit too long from the time you press the talk button on the steering wheel until you can talk (not because it's slow just because the sound effect and the voice message are too long) and the voice prompts are a bit too loud but it's still an impressive system.
I'd rather be able to press the button and hear a little "bloop" and be able to talk right away instead of having to wait for the voice.

in reply to my first SYNC experience