The H-Factor

Windows 11 Pros and Cons

So, Windows 11...

The good news (for us at least) is that all our current versions of Hydratec software work well on it. I ran the update on my machine, and my already installed software worked just great. I have also run some of our install without a problem.

What's the bad news? Nothing is broken, but a few big gripes about what they changed for no apparent good reason. They likely changed these to make Win 11 look different than Win 10, and more like a cell phone. That's the worst reason I can think of.

Sadly, the list of things that were changed, but unhelpful has grown long enough to make a list, so here goes - click on the Item in the list, or scroll through to see them all:

List:

The File/Folder Right-Click menu

Placement of the Windows Taskbar

The Windows Search bar

Finding Programs

No Drag and Drop via Windows 11 Taskbar

Individual Items:

Item 1: The File/Folder Right-Click menu

This is the menu that comes up when right-clicking on a file or folder. Along the top are icons for Cut  Copy  Paste  Rename and  Delete. I find these handy, but I just assume click on a word rather than use more brain neurons to think about the pic.

What bugs me is how much is missing. Where is New Folder, for example? I use WinZip a lot, but it's not there either, nor are any third party tools like anti-virus tools. 

To get the expanded right-click menu, you need to pick Show more options. That brings up the 'classic' menu. so, an extra pick. Not convenient.

The Fix:

1. Go to the Command 'DOS' Prompt by entering CMD in the Windows search bar.
2. Copy and paste the following command into the Command Prompt, then press Enter:

   reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

   If everything goes right, it should say “The operation completed successfully.”

3. Close the Command Prompt window
4. Reboot the computer make the override take effect.

Item 2: Placement of the Windows Taskbar

The Windows Taskbar is now centered in Windows 11, just because:

The Fix:

1. Right-click on any blank part of the Taskbar. Pick Taskbar Settings
2. Pick Taskbar Behaviors at near the bottom of that resulting dialog
   
   
   
   
3. Pick Left from the Taskbar Alignment item. The taskbar will immediately move left
   
   

Item 3: The Windows Search bar

The search bar has been removed from Windows 11. It is now accessible by picking either of the two leftmost buttons, the Windows logo or the Search glass. Not a fan.

The Fix: There isn't one

You can pick either of the two buttons, above and start typing your search term. Or, you can use the Windows logo key + S to search. Hovering over the search icon show the three most recently searched items.

You can remove the search icon from the taskbar by navigating to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar items and then turning off the Search option.

Item 4: Finding Programs

In Windows 10, you could pick the Windows Start button and navigate through the list to find the program you wanted to run. In Windows 11, yup, an extra click.

The apps you see when you hit the Windows logo key include some useful ones, but many are there to show how they know what the cool kids are using. Social media apps, Xbox and Prime Video. Blech. They really could have improved this if it was auto-populated with your most used apps. Nope.

You again pick the Windows Start button, but then pick All apps to see what you used to see for free:

You can select an app from here, right-click and choose Pin to Start to get it on the default screen.

Microsoft even has a web page explaining the differences between 10 and 11. By the very act of writing this, they should have realized it was a bad idea to add an extra click. Find all apps and programs comparison

The Fix: - There isn't one

Item 5: No Drag and Drop via Windows 11 Taskbar

Until Win 11, you could drag an item (like a file) down to the taskbar and pause for a moment over another application (like Outlook or Teams). The app would then open up and you could drop the item into something in that app. No longer! In Win 11 you get the No Go icon when you hover over the taskbar with dragged item in hand. Apparently they are using a new programming interface to rewrite the taskbar, but why they would not implement this is ridiculous.

So, you need to have both apps displayed and position them so that you can move the file from one app to another without losing focus.Ugh.

The Fix: A third party app. this one, available on the Microsoft Store, says it will do it. I have not tried it myself.

Drag and Drop Toolbar for Windows 11

Until I find something else to gripe about, have a good week!

Quick Assist - A Screen Sharing/Control App that is part of Windows 10

Quick Assist is built into Windows 10 and allows for remote control connections to other computers. No downloads or other software needed!

1. Type in Quick Assist at the Windows Search bar. You are given two simple options when it launches
   
   
   
   If you want to take control or see another person's computer, choose the Give assistance option. If someone wants to connect to you, use the Get assistance option
   
   
   
2. For example, Pick Assist another person. The app will connect to the netherworld and await confirmation with the other user
   
   
   
   
3. Have the other person launch Quick Assist as well. Supply them the six-digit code you see. Once they type that number in on their end (by typing it into the Code from assistant box in Step 1), you will be connected and given sharing options.
   
   
   
   
4. Choose your option

Rolling Back or Uninstalling Windows Updates

From time to time a Windows update will cause havoc with AutoCAD or another program you may be using. There is a way to 'roll back' updates, as described in this How-to-Geek web publication:

How to roll back or uninstall a problematic windows update

 

Tired of Trying to Delete 'Thumbs.db' Files? Here's How to Get Rid of Them

Thumbs.db files are caches of the thumbnails of the pictures in a folder. They make it faster to display thumbnails when viewing a folder in thumbnail mode. They are near impossible to delete, often getting in the way when you delete the contents of a folder and cannot delete the folder itself due to the continued presence of these files.

Personally, I loath them. I don't use thumbnails to display what I have in folders, and if I did, I would not mind waiting a few extra seconds for the thumbnails to appear. I do however, often check the properties of folders to see if there are any new files in there. I often have to hunt down folder by folder to find out it is merely these wretched things I see.

Here is how to stop them from being created, and make them deletable:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Press the ALT key to display the pull down menus (below). Pick Tools, then pick Folder Options.

 

   3. Pick the View tab, then check the very first check-box, 'Always show icons, never thumbnails'. Now, pick the Apply to Folders button and OK

This will allow you to delete leftover thumbs.db files. To do a mass elimination of the foul remnants, click on your root drive (C:), enter thumbs.db in the search field of Windows Explorer and erase all ones that show up with that name.

Windows 10

Good news! HydraCAD Versions 52 and 53, along with HydraLIST and and HydraCALC work great with Windows 10 Preview Edition 64-bit. I did not test the 32-bit version of Win 10, however I don't expect there should be any difficulties with that version, with the exception that V53 already does not support 32-bit platforms, by design. If users run into any unforeseen difficulties with Win 10, they are encouraged, as always, to bring them to our attention.

With Windows 10, Microsoft seems to have put in some real effort to make it compatible with existing software, and that is always a good thing (and greatly appreciated).

I have not switched over, and won't even consider doing so until the release version is out at the end of July (having been burned with the dead-end that was the Win 8 Preview version), but I think I might actually be up for upgrading to Win 10 from the Win 7 I am using now.

This is not a full review on my part, but a few things I liked instantly with Win 10:

1. The return of the Start Menu (and an improved one at that). It seems to seamlessly blend both the Win 8 Metro interface with the classic Start Menu of days of old. Notice the All apps button at the bottom left (circled in Red). That is the former All Programs that was so missed in Win 8/8.1

Another nice new feature (especially for power users) is the new menu that comes up when you right-click on the Start Button. You can do almost anything you want from this screen, and I, for one, really like it:

I even have to say that I like the new, crisp look of File Explorer

You may have heard the Internet Explorer is dead with this release, and that is true. That does not mean that no browser is installed with Win 10, however. The new browser is code named Project Spartan, which is a not-too-subtle hint on the simple design philosophy behind it. The official release name for Spartan is Microsoft Edge, by the way.

Using Libraries to Point to HydraCALC and HydraLIST Jobs

This idea is from long time customer and frequent good advice giver, Larry Howell at L & K Fire Protection in Marion, Illinois

"I wanted to share windows file explorer libraries with the blog users, as I just discovered their usefulness. When choosing a place to save calculations and stock listing files, the default does not work for us, finding the right directory on the server takes several clicks and looking. When choosing where to save the file, favorites do not appear but libraries do appear in the save options, if current job files are added to the libraries you can be only a couple clicks away. This would save more time with the more calculations and listings you have. This also saves us from moving files from our local “hes” folder to the proper directory for the project on the file server."

Using graphics to illustrate Larry's suggestion, here is how to do this:

Say that you, like Larry, want to write your listing (or calc) jobs to a location other than our default location. This is typically done by picking the Browse button and steering to the desired location:

But... this can get tedious and tiring, especially if the location is buried deep in a path structure on a different drive.

So,

1. Find the folder to be your Listing files location

2. Right-click on it, pick Include in library, then pick Create new library

This will create a new Library with the same name as the folder you clicked on

3. Now when you pick Browse in the Start AutoList (or Start AutoCalc) command, the folder you created is very easy to locate and select. The HydraLIST job will be created in that folder!

Changing the Program Associated with a File Extension

I had a customer contact me today because he was unable to use any of the internet spawning commands in HydraCAD including Send an Email to Hydratec, Hydratec Website and Hydratec Support Blog (this blog). The cause of his problem was that a browser was not associated with HTML files. Instead, some other program was.

This can be fixed by tweaking the registry, but there is a more friendly, safer way to do it:

1. Go into Control Panel
2. Pick Default Programs
3. Pick Associate a file type or protocol with a program

4

    4. Pick HTML (for example) from the list that displays (above). This make take a while on a computer with a lot of program on it
    5. Pick Change program
    6. Pick the program you want from either the list supplied, or, if you don't see the one you want, use the Browse button and hunt for the .exe file of the application you want

 

Using the ALT+TAB and CTRL+TAB Keys in Window Apps

Most people seem to know that holding down the ALT key while tapping the TAB key switches Windows applications, not as many appear to know that holding down the CTRL key while tapping the TAB key cycles through open Documents or Drawings _within_ the current window. In other words, if you are in AutoCAD, and have more than one drawing open, holding down the CTRL key while tapping the TAB key will cylce through the drawings you have open.

Bonus tip - If you have a Windows key on your keyboard, holding down the Windows key and pressing E opens up Windows Explorer. Windows+I opens Internet Explorer, Windows+D displays the Desktop. A complete list of Windows key shortcuts can be found here: Windows Key Shortcuts

Fixing Problems with Programs that can't be Installed or Uninstalled

Occasionally, we are faced with situations where we try to install a program and Windows says it is already there, but we think it isn't, and we can't find it in Programs and Feature in Control Panel. Or, we are trying to uninstall a program, and Windows errors out saying it is not there(!)

The tool to use is the Windows Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter. You can select progrm to install and to uninstall.

 

 

Upgrading Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro

What do I mean? Well, My coworker's machine got mucked up and we decided to install Windows 8 and start over. After the installation, I noticed that I was unable to connect to our server. I looked and his machine said it had Windows 8 - so what's the deal?

Turns out that some marketing weenies decided that the terminology 'Windows 8' would be used instead of 'Windows 8 Home Edition' (which was the terminology for Window 7, XP, Vista Home Editions). And, 'Windows 8 Enterprise and Professional' editions will just be called 'Windows 8 Pro'. I had used the product key for Windows 8 (Home) instead of the one I should have used (Pro.

Now what? Do I have to reinstall Win 8? Luckily not. Seems you can go to the app screen and type Settings and then select that. Then, you can pick Add Features to Windows. That will allow you to buy an addon for Win 8 to add the Pro features or (in my case) type in a new product key to install and activate the Pro version. Not too shabby, but I wished they had stuck with the earlier version names.

Restoring the Start Menu in Windows 8

My biggest complaint about Windows 8 is the lack of a Start button and the associated Start Menu and its shutdown provisions. The Metro interface gets blamed, but MS could have left the Start Menu and still added the new interface.

Metro, why do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...

1. The Metro interface requires a convoluted and not-at-all intuitive sequence of commands to shut down or restart your computer. Either hover over the right side of your screen, wait for the panel to pop up, then pick Settings and then..oh, never mind
   
   -or-
   
   Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and sign out. After that is complete, then pick the doodad at the lower right part of your screen and Shut Down
2. You cannot find your programs. Once you switch to the Metro screen, you can indeed start typing in the name of what you want to run (and I like this feature), but items are no longer grouped, you do not know which one you are going to get. Try typing in README and see how many show up. Now, try to figure out the right one. This makes it a support nightmare for us
3. When you install new software, shortcuts do not show up on the Desktop. It is not easy to find them in the Metro screen and bring them over to the Desktop. Yes, it can be done, but it is far harder than it needs to be

What to do? I installed VISTART - it is one of many utilities that will recreate the Start Menu. I ran this one because it seemed to have the most recommendations. And it worked great. Hallelujah.

PS - I am going back to Windows 7

Using the Windows 7/8 Snipping Tool

My IT director wife showed me this one. I am often doing screen captures to illustrate blog entries, instructions manuals or support emails. I have been doing a Print Screen or Alt+Print Screen to send the entire screen or active window (respectively) to the Clipboard so I can get what I need. However, while the Alt+Print Screen does not often need to be further edited, I always have to paste the full Print Screen to Paint and then clip off just what I need.

All Programs->Accessories->Snipping Tool takes care of this. It even lets you annotate the snip and/or email it.

Once you launch the tool, you can pick New to start the tool. The New button/list has four options, depending on the shape of snip you need. The Options button lets you control more. Once you pick new, you are in snip mode and will not be able to do anything except snip or cancel unless you minimize the snipper first.

Once you pick what you want to snip, the snip goes to both Clipboard and to the snip editor, where you can highlight and annotate the snip.

There is also a hot key that will create a snip. Pressing CTRL+Print Screen will initiate a New snip. I find that most helpful when I am trying to snip a pop up menu or command line prompt

 

Speak To Me - or - Checkups Congratulations Message

Many years ago, customers asked us to give them an 'atta boy' for getting no errors when running Checkups. That evolved from just the Congratulations dialog box to the dialog plus the Congratulations spoken message.

The voice being used depends on the version of Windows you have. On Windows XP, the voice is officially known as Microsoft Bob. Windows Vista is Microsoft Mary. Windows 7 is Microsoft Anna. You can download additional voices if you want and you can change the speed and other options as well. To do this:

1.       Open control panel, click on speech recognition.

2.       In advanced speech option, click on text to speech tab.

3.       Select the voice from the drop down of Voice select.

If you are tired of The Voice, don't despair. The next release (50.10/51.10) of HydraCAD will give an option to turn off the voice, period

Oh - and one other thing. There has been a hidden command in HydraCAD for a few years now. Type in SPEAK at the command line and enter a message. It will be spoken back to you. Amuse your friends!

Searching File Contents in Windows 7 Explorer/My Computer

Sometimes, it seems like things take a big step back. This is a good example: try to search for text inside a file in Windows Explorer using Windows 7. It can't be done by default.

There are two ways, from Wikihow:

1. In Windows Explorer, Press Alt button --> go to Tools --> Folder options --> Search tab --> Here select, "Always search file names and content (this might take several minutes)".

2. Another way. Type "contents:" in the Windows Explorer search box followed by the word, searches text files. This is a search filter which seems to be undocumented (of course)

But it doesn't end there. Windows will not search within all files by default, just the ones it 'understands'. So, if it's not a .txt or .doc or .rtf or other Microsoft file, you will have to change things.

Here is my own problem. I need to search within a bunch of files (AutoCAD LISP files - .lsp) to find which ones contain a series of text letters. But by default, My Computer/Explorer does not look within .lsp files during a search.

Remember from above that to search for text within a file, you need to add the string 'contents:' followed by the word(s) you are searching for to the upper right edit field in Computer/Explorer. See the image below. In it I am searching for all files (or so I thought) containing the text '2011'.

The thing is that Windows 7 Explorer does not search within all file types by default. And .lsp files are one of those types. What needs to be done? You need to edit the Indexing for that file type so it is searched.

1.Go into Control Panel and Pick Indexing Options

2. Pick the Advanced button

3. Pick the File Types tab

4. Scan down to the file extension in question. In my case it is lsp. Select it and pick the Index Properties and File Contents option. Pick OK. It should work now.

Note - Notice that the initial dialog in Indexing Options shows a list of folders that are currently Indexed. This list is built as you use search. Windows may occasionally notify you that searches will go faster if you choose to Index a given folder. You can add folders by picking the Modify option and selecting them from the tree that appears.

Upgrading my Machine from XP to Windows 7 64-bit

I have a 5 year-old machine running Windows XP 64-bit and have been quite happy with it. But, some newer things that I need to do with it require Windows 7 and I have put if off long enough.

Going from Windows XP to Windows 7 requires a complete 'clean' install of Windows, as does going from 32-bit to 64-bit (ie. Vista 32-bit to 7 64-bit)

I have existing data and programs on my hard drive and I do not want to lose them, no way, no how. Here is a solution that worked really well for me - I added a new hard drive (F:) and installed Windows 7 64-bit on that drive. I can now boot up on either drive/OS and do whatever I need to do until I get things transferred/reinstalled on the new drive. For some of these steps, you might need an IT person for help. Here are my steps:

Step 1 - Check to see if your hardware can support Windows 7. Run Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to find out.

Step 2 - Install new hard drive. I got a 1T (terabyte) drive from Best Buy for about $200

Step 3 - Mark the new hard drive as active using Disk Management found in the Computer Management administrative tool. Assign it a drive letter

Step 4 - Format the drive using the same tool

Step 5 - Install Windows 7 on new hard drive. When you run the installation, choose the Custom Installation and choose the new drive's letter

When Step 5 is complete (after numerous re-boots), Windows will automatically create a dual-boot situation. When you turn your computer on, you will be able to choose Older Windows Version or Windows 7 as an option. The following steps require that you choose the Windows 7 option.

Step 6 - Create your User profile on Windows 7. Assign rights to that user (admin may be required)

Step 7 - Use the Windows Easy Transfer tool to copy settings from your old OS (Windows XP) to your new one

This tool worked great. It will convert what it can. It will also give you a list of installed programs that could not be transferred and need to be re-installed.

For me, it brought over:

My Desktop
Mapped my network drives
Many of my files (but not all)
V45 HydraCAD
Folder settings
Browser settings (needed to reinstall Firefox)
Passwords in browser for websites
Many registry keys

It did not bring over:

V50 HydraCAD
AutoCAD
Virus checker
About 1/2 my programs

The best part of this process is that none of the steps above were 'destructive'. I can still boot up on my old C: drive with XP and keep on working, as I am doing as I write this.

Renaming Multiple Files at One Time

From a longtime customer - Joe O.:

Here is one I just noticed in Vista and I was not sure if you knew about it...

 

With Vista, if you highlight multiple files to change the name, the name will change but each file will retain their respective extensions.  This is very handy if you need to change the name of a few files with different extensions.  Couldn’t do that in earlier Windows versions.

 

From Art: I have not tried this to change all the extensions at the same time, that is something in the past I wish I could have done

Upgrading to Windows 7

Just a quick note to say the following:

If you have Windows XP, then you cannot 'upgrade' to Windows 7. You will have to do a full install of Windows 7 and then reinstall all your software.

If you have Windows Vista, then you will be able to upgrade directly to Windows 7, no re-installation necessary.

That is all

Resending Emails in Outlook 2007

I am sure everyone in the world knew this except for me, but if you want to resend an email to someone, just open it, and pick Other Actions off the Ribbon toolbar and pick Resend Message

That is all

A Sordid Affair (or sorted, sort of)

My coworker Paul noticed yesterday that his files were not getting sorted in Explorer like he was used to seeing them. Those that started with numbers were no longer in numerical order, at least not the way he wanted them. He dug around and found a Knowledge Base article on the Microsoft website.

Sort Order in Newer Versions of Windows

This requires some registry editing, so ask someone who has done that before if you are unsure about doing it yourself.

Windows 7

Yep - Windows 7. Microsoft even has a web section for it: Windows 7

Vista is so popular it is already being replaced. When? Word on the street is one to three years. yay - more for all of us to have to deal with.

Vista is the new Windows ME