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annoyances posts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Automatically dismiss nag screens (and much more) with ClickOff


With free software, it's a given that you're going to encounter the occasional nag screen. You know, those in-your-face pop-up messages that remind you about an enhanced professional version or remind you that you haven't checked for updates in ages.

ClickOff is terrific at rubbing out annoying nag screens. Launch the program, switch to any window and press control + alt + d to add it to the "blacklist." The next time the screen appears, ClickOff will smack it down in the blink of an eye.

However, the goodness doesn't stop there. Using the advanced settings, you can configure ClickOff to perform an array of chores other than simply closing a window. It will minimize or maximize windows, right click, left click, and even send text. It's an incredibly handy little application for performing repetitive tasks.

The program might be old, but it still does the job quite nicely. It's a free download and runs on Windows.

Filed under: Fun, Blogging, Humor

Workbench rant: software annoyances I can do without

When I'm fighting with someone's bogged down, crapped up computer, I've got enough problems to keep me busy. Surprisingly, big manufacturers don't seem too concerned. They're more than happy to contribute to my frustrations in subtle ways that will eventually drive me completely insane.

Bloated drivers.
Ok, fellas, what's the deal? Why do OEMs feel the need to cram drivers for every OS into a single, massive file? Even better, they pack them as an exe inside a zip so LoadScout doesn't do me any good. All I want is 300k of stuff for 32-bit Windows XP, and I'm stuck waiting while you let an encyclopedic archive for all platforms trickle down to me at 14K/s?

I hate you. I'm going to start paying for your hardware by mailing you a nickel every day for four years.

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Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Beta

5 very basic things Windows 7 still isn't any good at


While I'm generally pleased with Windows 7 so far, I've found myself shaking my head every now and then. In some instances it's obvious that Microsoft has been paying attention. Other times, not so much.

I've noticed five issues so far that, though minor, leave me wondering if Microsoft is going to be able to pull off a really great OS by its projected mid-2009 release.

.ZIP Files
Windows 7 still takes forever to extract files from a zip archive, which leaves me dumbfounded. An 18.4mb zip containing only two files took me almost 23 seconds to extract using the right-click context menu's extract all option. Using 7zip's context menu extraction, the same operation took less than three seconds.

Zip files have been supported natively since Windows XP. Seven years later, there's still no improvement. Third party applications are so much better at handling .zip files it makes me wonder why Microsoft bothered adding support in the first place.

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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware, Browsers

Use RepairIE to tweak, lock down, and fix Internet Explorer


Fire up the half-megabyte, portable RepairIE and you're presented with five tabs to help make administering Internet Explorer an uncomplicated process.

Configuration options are broken down into appearance, features, network connections, search, and security. To change a yes/no option, simply double click it and confirm your action.

RepairIE provides an incredible number of options for configuring not only the Internet Exlporer interface, but its options menu as well. For starters, you can restrict your users from altering the homepage or toolbars, prevent them from downloading files, and disable access to file URLs.

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Filed under: Blogging, Analysis

My Top 6 Download Annoyances

I download and install a lot of applications, and if you're a regular reader you probably do too. Like anything else that's free, downloading tends to some with some unfortunate perils. I'm not talking about trojans or malware, just regular run-of-the-mill annoyances.

Capping download rates.
Asus...Oh, Asus. Some days I just want to fly over to Taiwan and slap you right in the mouth. Do they not realize that it works out the same whether I download for 2 hours at 9k or 4 minutes at 256k? I actually stopped building with their mainboard partially because of the crappy download speeds.

Falsely advertise as being free. I subscribe to a number of free software feeds, and there's nothing worse than seeing a cool application show up that someone has called free just to get it listed. You're not helping your app's popularity. In fact, you're probably turning off just about anyone that might have wanted to use it because they're ticked that the download was either stripped-down or only a trial.

Download a download manager first.
Thankfully, I haven't seen the Adobe Download Manager in quite some time, but there are others out there. I don't need or want your help downloading. If I need help resuming my download, I've got DownThemAll, thanks.

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Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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