Blackmoor Vituperative

There are a lot of people asking about this, and a great many sites which tell you how to set it up. They all entail copying DLL files and registering them, etc. Sadly, these methods do not work on 64-bit Windows Vista/Windows 7. Here is what works:

• Ardfry Imaging‘s PSD codec for Adobe Photoshop Documents
• MysticThumbs Thumbnail provider for Windows 7, Vista and XP

They both cost money ($20 and $25, as of this moment).

I am putting this here in case someone else has the same problem. The network adapter in my laptop kept disconnecting (not all the time — once a day, generally). I could not figure out why. These links helped me solve the problem.

• Network stops working @ Windows 7
• Windows 7 x64 Network Adapter Stops working on high load
• Enable/Disable TCP Task Offloading to NIC in Windows | Windows Reference
• IT – Hint: How to disable Windows Scalable Networking Pack Components

I hope this helps someone.

Where is the horizontal scrollbar in the left (navigation) pane? This annoys me no end.

If you are installing Windows 7, or if you just got a new computer, there are a few things you should do before you start using it. Here they are.

1. Configure the Start Menu.
   • Richt-click the Windows logo on the taskbar.
   • Select “Properties”.
   • On the “Start Menu” tab, click the “Customize” button.
   • Computer: display as a menu.
   • Connect to: not checked.
   • Control panel: display as a menu.
   • Default programs: not checked.
   • Devices and printers: checked.
   • Documents: display as a menu.
   • Downloads: do not display this item.
   • Enable context menus: checked.
   • Favorites menu: not checked.
   • Games: do not display this item.
   • Help: not checked.
   • Highlight newly installed programs: not checked.
   • Homegroup: not checked.
   • Music: display as a menu.
   • Network: not checked.
   • Open submenus: checked.
   • Personal folder: do not display this item.
   • Pictures: display as a menu.
   • Recent items: checked.
   • Recorded TV: do not display this item.
   • Run command: checked.
   • Search other files: search with public folders.
   • Search programs: checked.
   • Sort All programs menu: checked.
   • System administrative tools: Display on the All Programs menu.
   • Use large icons: checked.
   • Videos: Display as a menu.
2. Configure Windows Explorer.
   • Hide Favorites.
   • Make your local network a Work network (or just hide Homegroup).
   • Open Windows Explorer, click the “Organize” button, and select “Folder and Search options”.
     1. On the “General” tab…
     2. Show all folders: not checked
     3. Automatically expand: checked
     4. On the “View” tab…
     5. Always show icons: not checked.
     6. Always show menus: checked.
     7. Display file icon: checked.
     8. Display file size: checked.
     9. Display the full path: checked.
     10. Hidden files and folders: Don’t show (we will do something about this further down).
     11. Hide empty drives: not checked.
     12. Hide extensions: not checked (this is the most idiotic option ever).
     13. Hide protected OS files: not checked.
     14. Launch folder windows in a separate process: not checked.
     15. Restore previous folders: checked.
     16. Show drive letters: checked.
     17. Show encrypted: checked.
     18. Show pop-up: checked.
     19. Show preview handlers: checked.
     20. Use check boxes to select: not checked.
     21. Use Sharing Wizard: checked.
     22. When typing into list view: Select the typed item.
     23. Click the “Apply To Folders” button, and click OK.
3. Configure My Documents.
   • In Windows Explorer, navigate to “C:\Users\[your user name]“.
   • Right-click “My Documents”, and rename it to “Documents”.
   • Right-click “My Music”, and rename it to “Music”.
   • Right-click “My Pictures”, and rename it to “Pictures”.
   • Right-click “My Videos”, and rename it to “Videos”.
   • Drag and drop “Music” into the “Documents” folder.
   • Drag and drop “Pictures” into the “Documents” folder.
   • Drag and drop “Videos” into the “Documents” folder.
4. Move the Taskbar to the left side of the screen. With a widescreen monitor (which any new computer will have), it makes much more sense to waste a small strip on the left than a strip that runs all the way across the bottom of the screen, making a narrow display area even narrower.
5. Install Aerobar. Unzip the aerobar.zip file, copy the “AeroBar” directory to your “Program Files” directory (or “Program Files (x86)” directory on Windows 7 64-bit), then create a shortcut to “Aerobar.exe” in the Startup folder of your Start Menu. (A Squared Anti-Malware flags Aerobar as having a trojan. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Avast! Free Antivirus, in which I have more trust, do not. It is my opinion that A Squared is giving a false positive.)
6. Install Toggle Hidden Files and assign a hotkey to it (I use “Windows+h”).
7. Show drive letters before the drive name.
8. Restore the Search context menu.
9. Install KeyTweak and remap the Caps Lock key to Left Shift.
10. Add a Take Ownership context menu to Windows Explorer.
11. Install ClipX, with the Stickies, Autoupdate, and Limits plugins.
12. Install AllSnap (the 64 bit version, if you are running 64-bit Windows). You must disable “Aero Snap” (which is useless) first!
13. If you use Photoshop, install Mystic Thumbs

Now that you have done all of that, there are a few essential applications you should consider installing:

1. 7-Zip
2. Notepad++
3. Firefox You might also consider these addons:
   • Adblock Plus
   • bug 489729
   • Coral IE Tab
   • Menu Editor
   • New Tab Homepage
   • Tabberwocky
   • Xmarks (I synchronize bookmarks, but not passwords, and I turn Xmarks’ “Discovery” features off.)
4. Thunderbird with the calendar plugin (You might also consider linking Thunderbird’s address book and calendar to Google.)
5. Irfanview and the Irfanview plugins
6. OpenOffice LibreOffice
7. Avast! Free Antivirus
8. Copernic Desktop Search (I paid for the professional version. I think it’s worth it.) (I eventualy uninstalled this. It was just too much of a resource hog, even on a brand new computer.)
9. SmartDefrag
10. Dexpot
11. Bulk Rename Utility
12. FontExpert (It costs money, but if you work with fonts a great deal, it is worth it.) When you put fonts into groups, make sure you create shortcuts, rather than copying the font files.
13. PeerBlock (Idon’t use this anymore. It interfered with games and I think the benefit is dubious.)
14. Install VistaSwitcher

The Free Software Foundation has a new educational campaign, and in a shift from previous efforts, it is more openly negative about the costs and morality (or lack thereof) of closed-source software. This is the Windows 7 Sins campaign, and it looks like the mainstream media might actually be picking up on it (if only to heckle).

Personally, I think this is an interesting effort, and I hope that it achieves positive results. I define “positive results” as an increase in the number of people who convert to Linux (what the FSF stubbornly persists in calling “GNU/Linux”), and a decrease in the number of people who continue to blindly hand Microsoft their money.