If you use TopicCrunch you may want to know if it will work in Vista.  Yes, it does.  Our deep searching software has been tested on Vista and found to work normally. 

 Topicscape Pro and Topicscape Lite are under test with Vista.  It’s fun to see the 3D mindmapping window move into Vista’s own 3D environment.  It will take a few weeks to complete our full test plan and make any necessary adjustments. 

I recently asked if anyone wanted to Beta my new deep web-searching app TopicCrunch.

In the course of testing I found something that most users probably know about, but I didn’t. A user said that after he saved the installer from the email I sent it on, he couldn’t run it.  He kept getting the message:
“Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file.  You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.”

Then, guess what? I got a jpg attachment attached to an email that gave the same message.  I eventually looked at the Properties for the file, and there was an item there that I haven’t seen before.

At the foot of the General Tab on the Properties panel, there’s an item “Security:  This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer.”  Then there’s a button   [Unblock].  I clicked Unblock and then the file would open.

I can only guess that Microsoft must have pushed this change out in a recent Windows Update.

Roy

OK, so I’m a cheapskate.  I still use CorelDraw 7 even though they’re up to X3 (or is that down to X3?) now.

 I found that when I opened a directory with a .CPT file in it, Windows Explorer would close spontaneously.  Fellow workers said it’s something to do with the automatic icon-making function in PhotoPaint and they were right.

 To fix it, go to CORELDraw7 | Graphics Utilities | Uninstall Thumbnail display.

 Job done.

The message to take away, is that Norton Internet Security 2006 is the outright wam bam winner.  On a PC that boots in 75 seconds, adding NIS2006 reportedly added a further 43 seconds to the boot time.

And this is good to know about: If you have 1000 fonts installed, that’ll add almost 25 seconds to boot time compared to having just 100 fonts.

I rushed to clean up my fonts. Still have some to go.  The other software mentioned in the article added 14 seconds or less.

Read all the detail at the link:

http://www.thepcspy.com/articles/other/what_slows_windows_down/

After setting up a new PC, instead of the cursor stopping at the edge of the screen it disappeared off the edge.  The mouse had to be moved a long way back before I could see it.  I found that the display had defaulted to dual view (two monitors).

Right-click desktop | Settings | Advanced | click on your graphics adapter’s tab and set the display to single view.  Worked for me with an nVidia display adapter.