Windows Archive

Need for Speed Shift… can the franchise be saved? Can PC games be saved?

By
Andy
 – September 24, 2009Posted in: Hardware, Software, Windows

Be warned – this isn’t a comprehensive review of the game – I’ve only had it for one evening so far. I’ve been a massive fan of the NFS games since NFS III in 1998 playing them all on the various PCs over the years. For the most part they have been great, getting better and better with each new release…. until Pro Street. Up until this release the NFS games had had a great formula: great tracks and courses to drive on, collect or earn great cars and a fairly simple plot that didn’t get in the way of the racing too much.

With Pro Street they have gone down a different path – back to single race events which would have been good apart from a few things:

  • The driving was aweful because the physics engine was crap
  • It crashed all the time
  • There was too much hip hop, neon cars and other crap that wasn’t needed

This was the first release that put me off as soon as I started playing it. It’s also the first release that wouldn’t run on which ever computer I had at the time – whether it was a mid spec desktop or fairly high end laptop, all the rest ran fine on very high settings. Pro Street just about ran on minimum settings on a high spec Sony Vaio for maybe a race and a half before crashing every two minutes. During the short time I’d had to play it had put me off completely I never did anything to try and get a PC that would run it. Onto the next release.

Need for Speed: Undercover looked much more promising so when this was released I bought myself another mid-spec PC to play it on – something that met the minimum specs and should have been able to play it – surely that’s what the minimum spec is for. However, when the game turned up and I installed it, it just crashed Vista whenever I tried to play it. Many a night was spent trying to find out the cause and fix it with no success. Eventually it just went on eBay.

So, back to the present – a new NFS game and a new laptop to try it on. This game kind of snuck up on me – I hadn’t even heard it was being made and then suddenly it was being recommended to me on Amazon. Luckily EA had decided to release a demo with this one so I downloaded it, installed it on my laptop and fired it up. After ignoring the recommended “low” graphics settings and putting them up to “medium” I managed to crash it a few times – it is a laptop with laptop graphics after all, but after putting them back down to low, it ran fine and enticed me enough to lift the EA boycott (Red Alert 3 annoyed me as well but that’s another story).

This did present me with a problem though – I didn’t want to play the entire game on “low” settings so what was I going to do about something to play it on. Getting a decent PC to play this on that would last me a few years to make it worth it could end up costing me over £2000 and apart from the huge cost to play a handfull of games, me and the missus already have laptops so wouldn’t use it for other computing activities, we don’t have anywhere to put it and with the way things are moving in the PC games industry – it might not work on next years games.

So, alternatives? PS3, Wii or Xbox 360. We already have a Wii and while I love the innovative controllers and gameplay this opens up, the graphics aren’t brilliant and the controller for racing games is similar to what you use on a PS3 or Xbox 360. I could have had a look at the PS3 but since I’ve also had my eye on Project Gotham Racing for a while, I decided to take a look at the Xbox instead. I was tempted to save some money and stick with the Wii (there is a credit crunch on) but then I came across the Xbox 360 Arcade edition and as I’m not a hardcore gamer who will be playing on it all night the limitations of the Arcade edition didn’t make much difference to me and the cost was low enough that I just went ahead and ordered one.

So, this got me thinking – does my change from long term PC gamer to having two consoles (my previous console before the Wii and Xbox was a Sega Master System!) mean that things have changed so much that PC games could be on their way out? I think: Yes. With cheap plasma TVs, cheap laptops, wireless networks, cheap networks etc – the hardcore PC gamer who has a top end system that does everything must be becoming something of a varity.

Maybe the PC game is an endangered species….

Laptop makers are insane!

By
Andy
 – June 15, 2009Posted in: Windows

I’ve just been given an old laptop to re-install by the Boss – you know, to make it faster for 10 minutes until Windows Update has made it as slow as it always was, and in the process of installing Windows came across one of the most stupid ideas that laptop makers have come up with yet.

Putting the Product Key on a sticker on the BOTTOM of the laptop

So, pick it up, read a block of the key, put it down, forgot the 5 digits, pick it up…. die of old age!

Only 35 years left till retirement….

IE7 File Uploads don’t work – nothing happens

By
Andy
 – July 11, 2008Posted in: Web Development, Windows

So, Microsoft have a released a new Internet Explorer and as per usual, we’re going to have to re-code all our sites for it. So, what’s this versions problem: file uploads.

I have a site that uploads a file in the usual HTML form way and then the PHP on the server checks if it’s a JPEG and uses copy() to move it to a desired folder. I tested it in FireFox and everything was working fine and since it’s so simple a script I left it at that. Then a client with IE7 called me because he was trying to upload a jpeg and nothing was happening. I fired up IE and gave it a go and when I clicked on the Submit button it just sat there, doing sod all.

A bit of digging and I found that the problem was because I’d included the following in the code for the Submit Button:

onClick=”this.disabled = true;”

This was being executed by IE and then it appears it just sits there and forgots you clicked Submit. You can give IE a good kicking and get it working again by changing it to:

onClick=”this.disabled = true; document.form.submit();”

I hate IE and M$

MS Access won’t open the ODBC Window

By
Andy
 – June 27, 2008Posted in: Software, Windows

We use MySQL Databases with PHP front ends for pretty much all our organisations needs but occassionally we need to get something done before I can come up with a system for it. The most recent example was the collection of Contact data which would eventually be integrated into our main Customer database.

We let our Admin staff loose on the collection process and as I didn’t have any input, they used MS Excel to store the info. Now the time has come to add the info to our main MySQL Database and process it for any errors. To minimise the amount of work I’d have to do I wanted to use both Access and PHP to do some processing and data manipulation so I installed WAMP on my laptop and the Mysql ODBC Connector.

After loading up Access, I tried to connect to the MySQL table I’d created but after choosing:

File > Get External Data > Link Tables…

After choosing “ODBC Databases” from the Files of Type, nothing happens.

Turns out it is the “wonderful” Norton Internet Security at work again. You can fix it through the following method:

  • In the System Tray, double-click the Norton icon
  • Click Norton Internet Security.
  • Click Settings.
  • Click Additional Options, then Virus and Spyware Protection Options.
  • Click Miscellaneous.
  • Clear the Turn on scanning for Microsoft Office Documents check box.

Close Access if you had it open and then open your DB again. Should work fine now.

Still getting General Failure messages in Firefox

By
Andy
 – March 27, 2008Posted in: Email & Spam, Software, Windows

In a previous post I wrote about Outlook, Firefox and “General Failure” messages and a solution to stop these messages from appearing. I’ve just had an update to Firefox and had to go through the same process again because the error messages were coming back. This time it didn’t work though.

A bit of poking around the interweb has given me this little gem though. Basically it has to do with DDE, an old method of allowing applications to communicate with each other. The simplest thing to do is disable it for Firefox:

  1. Go to Control Panel -> Folder Options -> File Types.
  2. Click on: Extension: {NONE}, filetype: Firefox URL
  3. Click on Advanced
  4. Click Edit
  5. Uncheck the “Use DDE”, and OK twice.
  6. Repeat 2-5 for the the following:
    1. “URL: Hypertext Transfer Protocol”
    2. “URL: Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Privacy”

Hopefully this one should fix the problem permenantly

“My Pictures” displaying the wrong previews when in Thumbnails mode

By
Andy
 – February 28, 2008Posted in: Windows

I was browsing the “My Pictures” folder and noticed that the previews of the various images in the folder were wrong. It wasn’t all of them and it wasn’t a certain file type either, just some of them were wrong. After a bit of poking around I found the cause.

I have recently got a new laptop and when I transferred everything across I just dumped things in a shared drive and copied it across, including certain files such as Desktop.ini and Thumbs.db. The last file was the cause of the problem and the simplest fix is this:

  • Open Windows Explorer (or My Computer) and go to “My Pictures”
  • Go to “Tools” > “Folder Options…”
  • Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files [Recommended]” and click OK
  • Delete the file “Thumbs.db”
  • Change back the setting for hiding protected files
  • Preview the folder again – everything should be back to normal

You might have to do this with every folder that contains images and therefore a Thumbs.db file.

Outlook, Firefox and “General Failure” messages

By
Andy
 – February 23, 2008Posted in: Email & Spam, Software, Windows

Update There is a new solution at Still getting General Failure messages in Firefox

Original Post

This problem occurs when you click on a link in Outlook and the page opens in Firefox but also creates an error message along the lines of:

General Failure. The URL was:
“http://www.devblog.co.uk”. The system cannot find the file specified.

I think that this problem only occurs in Outlook 2007 but I could be wrong. Anyway, the problem appears on both XP and Vista and in both cases the same registry fix will cure the problem. Usual advice: back up the registry and important data and if it all goes wrong, moan to someone else!

Go to “Start > Run” and Enter “Regedit”. Or in vista I think you can just type “Regedit” in the box at the bottom (I can’t be more specific, I left my Vista laptop at work). When you’ve got regedit open head to the following path:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec

Open the key “Default” which should have the value of “”%1″,,0,0,,,,”. Delete the string of crap and save it then exit Regedit. This will stop the warnings from popping up.

A quick warning though – If you tend to switch the Default Browser between Firefox and IE (for banking reasons or website testing such as myself) then when you switch back to FF the problem will come back and you’ll have to edit the registry again.

Windows Vista vs Fedora Core 8

By
Andy
 – February 21, 2008Posted in: Linux, Software, Windows

A few weeks ago I was taking a look at Windows SBS 2003 vs Fedora Core for using in the office as a primary all singing, all dancing server and for my particular needs, Linux won. Since then I have had the chance to spend a few days having a first look at Windows Vista and Fedora Core 8. This was not an intentional thing, I’d downloaded Fedora to install on the box I’d set aside for the new server and instead of going for the minimalist text based installation, I installed it as a usable desktop machine as well. At the same time I was given a couple of laptops running Windows Vista Business to set up for a remote user, plus a spare that I’m hanging on to so I can support Vista. This means I’ve had a chance to play with fresh installs of both, trying them out for the all major things an OS does:

  • Setup and configuration
  • Intuitivity of UI, usability and increasing productivity
  • Software installation and built in functionality

As with the previous article, this isn’t meant to start a massive OS war in the comments section. I like both Windows and Linux and my choice of OS is only determined by the job that particular installation will be performing: I wouldn’t try and use Linux as a home entertainment/gaming machine and I wouldn’t use Windows as a web server. It’s just an evaluation for a particular task: a desktop machine for a Web Developer to use during the day, i.e.

  • Browsing the web, checking email and various other standard Internet tasks
  • Coding and testing of said code (usually on a separate machine)
  • Dealing with other standard document types (.doc, .xls, .pdf etc)
  • Listening to the radio online or MP3s when it’s quiet

As far as this goes, it’s a pretty even match. Anyone doing my job can easily install either Windows or Fedora and have it up and running within the office network without any issues. The Fedora installation procedure has come a long way in recent versions and it’s much simpler for the novice than it used to be. Windows is also a breeze and even though this one came pre-installed, looking at the various screenshots and reviews, the most trouble a novice would have would be getting the PC to boot from the right media.

So, UI, usability and productivity. This is again a tie in my book. Both operating systems are based around principles we’ve been working with for nearly 20 years such as Menu (Start or otherwise), Task Bar, Windows etc…. Which ever OS you use, they’re all there in one place or another and the only complication is finding the bit you’re looking for. For users such as myself where getting to know new software interfaces and systems it’s not something I worry about. I’m going to skip productivity at the moment as this is something that is affected by a number of factors:

  • The software you’re using to do a particular job
  • Dealing with bugs and cliches when or if they crop up
  • Intergration with other systems used in your particular environment

The only one I will touch on is the last point. In the SME and in particular within my job role, we tend not to use a whole raft of Windows and Office technologies all interconnected with various Server and Client technologies. From this point of view, the need to be on a Windows platform is minimised and the technologies we employ all have open source equivalents that can be used in a mixed environment (Samba etc).

After a week of testing, I’ve come to a few conclusions:

  • Fedora is a very good operating system but unless you have a specific need, there’s not too much to tempt me away from the safety net you get by running everyone on Windows. If you need to upgrade and want to save a bit of cash, take a look though.
  • Windows Vista has some good user improvements and a very refreshing UI. Unfortunately after 6 or so years I was hoping for more of a leap from XP than a new paint job. If we get new machines running Vista then that’s fine but otherwise, I’m not forking out for it

Uninstall “My Sharing Folders”

By
Andy
 – February 21, 2008Posted in: Software, Windows

If you’ve installed Windows Live Messenger, Live Writer or something else that has installed the “My Sharing Folders” icons and shortcuts every-bloddy-place, have a look at the site below to get rid of them all:

Winhelponline.com

Works a treat.

Problem installing Windows Live Messenger

By
Andy
 – February 21, 2008Posted in: Software, Windows

I’ve just re-installed everything on my laptop and the last thing was to get rid of the built in XP messenger and then install the latest Windows Live Messenger. After downloading the WLinstaller.exe and running it I got the following message from the Windows Live Installer

It looks like you’re offline.

To install Windows Live programs, you must be online.
Please connect to the Internet, and then try again.

At first I tried the usual things:

  • Disable the firewall (temporarily…)
  • Switch from FireFox back to IE and check that “Work Offline” is disabled
  • Check I was actually still online…

None of which worked. Finally I found the following work-around:

  1. Download an older version of MSN Messenger (File Hippo has archives)
  2. Install the older version
  3. When you start it up, it’ll inform you that a newer version is available
  4. Install this one and everything will run fine

Ta da!

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »