Getting taskbar to STAY HIDDEN

[thanatoid]

The site says it's a 16-bit program, and I have a 64-bit
Windows 7, so it won't work here, outside of a virtual
machine running an earlier version of Windows.

Ah... I forgot about 64 bits. (BTW, when is 128 bits coming out?
We REALLY need it!)

Yes, it has to be 32 bit, but since it works in XP...

And it is NOT just for your NR, it is for everything. Every new
"text edit box" that you try it in (with a nice kbd shortcut)
either just works or you can customize. There are a few apps it
does NOT work in, but I do practically all my typing in Metapad
Lite, since that version ignores the dreaded insert/overwrite
key, and it works beautifully in Metapad L. I have XNews set up
to use Metapad Lite for writing posts.

The site gives no info abut how to run it, but I'll look
inside the zip file for some help. ... Never mind, I see it

I'm sure you'll have no problems.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Not a problem. I've been out of touch with the mainstream long enough



Similar to what I get, but not identical.


No promises, but I'll look. I have no idea how to add an alternative
spellchecker to either of the newsreaders I use (I have looked
unsuccessfully in the helpfiles, which in MesNews is no help to me).

I've been tinkering with Thunderbird & Windows Live Mail trying to find
some way to install a different spellchecker. But I can't find one with
either program.

There are stacks of alternative language dictionaries to download for
both, however.

I've googled a bit but drawn a blank there too.
Somebody must know better on this.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Ah... I forgot about 64 bits. (BTW, when is 128 bits coming out?
We REALLY need it!)

Yes, it has to be 32 bit, but since it works in XP...

And it is NOT just for your NR, it is for everything. Every new
"text edit box" that you try it in (with a nice kbd shortcut)
either just works or you can customize. There are a few apps it
does NOT work in, but I do practically all my typing in Metapad
Lite, since that version ignores the dreaded insert/overwrite
key, and it works beautifully in Metapad L. I have XNews set up
to use Metapad Lite for writing posts.


I'm sure you'll have no problems.

Au contraire.

Either I didn't understand the Help (how could that possibly be?) or it
requires access to the source code to link it to a program.

But I don't plan to run my newsreaders in a virtual machine anyway.

See how I impose restrictions on myself, while blaming someone or
something else?

So either I accept the rough spots in the spellcheckers I use, or like
Ed Cryer, I have recourse to Google (or wait for him to solve the
problem and post his results).

Sorry for all the above - I just finshed my morning coffee and am not
fully responsible for my attitude

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

all that can be controlled to
a fairly significant extent ...
without going to the absurdities of WB, which remind me of
a socialite's shoe closet.

I was completely mystified until I realized that you had not said a
*socialist's* shoe closet.

The biennial visit to the optometrist is coming up, but there's nothing
scheduled for the *brain*

 

[thanatoid]

Either I didn't understand the Help (how could that
possibly be?) or it requires access to the source code to
link it to a program.

Maybe if you run it in a virtual box - I have no experience with
those.

After you install it and do the most basic configuration, you
restart the computer and you see the small splash at bottom
right when Win starts, and then it runs in bkgd (any text window
you want to use it in (it even works in SOME web form/post
boxes) you make happen by pressing (default is) alt/ctl/F12.
That's all. Create a custom dict. to add your frequent filthy
words to. (Like "Microsoft".)

It does not work with ALL text boxes, but it works with most.

But I don't plan to run my newsreaders in a virtual machine
anyway.

The best thing about it is it is system-wide - you can use it
with /anything/ box that has text, except for the boxes it won't
work with. ;-)

See how I impose restrictions on myself, while blaming
someone or something else?

Yes, I like it.

So either I accept the rough spots in the spellcheckers I
use, or like Ed Cryer, I have recourse to Google (or wait
for him to solve the problem and post his results).

Does Google offer a spellchecker??????????????????????????

Sorry for all the above - I just finshed my morning coffee
and am not fully responsible for my attitude

I'm halfway tohrough mine.

 

[thanatoid]

I was completely mystified until I realized that you had
not said a *socialist's* shoe closet.

I bet Stalin had a nice collection!

The biennial visit to the optometrist is coming up, but
there's nothing scheduled for the *brain*

The only good thing that has happened to me in the last year is
that my vision inexplicably improved by 50%. I'm hoping it's a
deadly tumor pressing on the eyeballs.

I've given up on the brain a LONG time ago. Just getting dumber
and dumber. Oh well. At SOME point some benefits should appear,
like the inability to ponder the metaphysical horror of
existence.

 

[thanatoid]

Then why did you create all the accounts ?

The damn thing creates two without you even being aware of it! I
just created one more!

http://www.google.com/search?
q=windows+xp+consolidate+user+accounts&hl=en&client=ubuntu&c
hannel=fs&prmd=ivns&ei=KZEKTqCrEqSo0AHRqOGIAQ&start=10&sa=N

I looked at the first 5 links, and they all (just like the 30
other sites I visited researching this thing) said what I am
complaining about can not be fixed/controlled/nuked. At least
they didn't insist it was a "feature".

(Just tying up 2 loose ends.)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

The best thing about it is it is system-wide - you can use it
with /anything/ box that has text, except for the boxes it won't
work with. ;-)

It ostensibly won't work in Windows 7 64-bit, period - because it's a
16-bit program and Win 7/64 doesn't support that.

And I certainly don't want to run all my software that requires (or can
use) a spellchecker in a virtual machine, even though it would (or at
least should) work system-wide in that environment, if I run the right
Windows in the VM.[1]

Although I didn't quote it, I appreciate your lesson on how to install
and run the speller, which I didn't understand from the official help
files; I even installed the MS reader for those old-style help files

Better I should Google for spellcheckers (though I'd have to spell it
right!).

[1] I do have a VM (actually two) because I have software that doesn't
have drivers for Win 7, but this is stuff I run only a few times a year,
not part of my daily routine. The VWware machine does the job; the MS XP
mode fails...

 

[thanatoid]

Better I should Google for spellcheckers (though I'd have
to spell it right!).

Another way is to use a notepad replacement and a NR which
allows you to use an ext. app for writing posts. Some of the
bigger - but not necessarily costing anything - ones have
spellcheckers built-in. But they are a much bigger hassle to use
than the utter beauty and simplicity of the Quinion masterpiece.

I look for another system-wide spellchecker once in a while, it
is, sadly, a very neglected field.

I guess the universal assumption is that everyone has Word. And
most people do, sigh. But they STILL don't spellcheck!

I don't know enough about Linux to know whether a SUSE app will
work for you, but here's one:
https://features.opensuse.org/305688

(IIRC you use Ubuntu or smth. I could be wrong, memory VERY
bad!)

{Or you could just go back to 9x or XP 32bit }

 

[Ed Cryer]

Maybe if you run it in a virtual box - I have no experience with
those.

After you install it and do the most basic configuration, you
restart the computer and you see the small splash at bottom
right when Win starts, and then it runs in bkgd (any text window
you want to use it in (it even works in SOME web form/post
boxes) you make happen by pressing (default is) alt/ctl/F12.
That's all. Create a custom dict. to add your frequent filthy
words to. (Like "Microsoft".)

It does not work with ALL text boxes, but it works with most.


The best thing about it is it is system-wide - you can use it
with /anything/ box that has text, except for the boxes it won't
work with. ;-)


Yes, I like it.


Does Google offer a spellchecker??????????????????????????


I'm halfway tohrough mine.

I downloaded the package; dated 1999.
My Win7 machine just refused it outright; it said get a 32-bit or 64-bit
version.
I tried it on my old XP machine; it installed (a bit crankily) and
worked for a bit. I tried it in Notepad and MS Word.

Later (after I was working back on this Win7 machine and the spell
checker in Thunderbird suggested "rheumatoid" for "thanatoid", I got to
wondering what it would suggest. So I fired the XP machine up again and
tried. But it's got all screwed up and I can't get it working now.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

(IIRC you use Ubuntu or smth. I could be wrong, memory VERY
bad!)

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

{Or you could just go back to 9x or XP 32bit }

Thanks for caring

That last remark *is* a joke, in reply to yours.

But to lapse into seriousness for a moment: I have no plans to go back,
beyond the VM I have described elsewhere that I use for a couple of apps
that I rarely run.

 

[thanatoid]

I downloaded the package; dated 1999.

It was an OK year :-]

My Win7 machine just refused it outright; it said get a
32-bit or 64-bit version.

Cool, that's what I was curious about, thanks for letting me
know.

I tried it on my old XP machine; it installed (a bit
crankily) and worked for a bit. I tried it in Notepad and
MS Word.

It doesn't work in everything. It has a bunch of presets
(apparently there are MANY MANY MANY ways of coding a "windows
text box") and then you can try to configure ones new to the
program.

Later (after I was working back on this Win7 machine and
the spell checker in Thunderbird suggested "rheumatoid" for
"thanatoid"

It'd be funnier if it suggested thanatoid for rheumatoid...
Maybe SOME day... ;-}

I got to wondering what it would suggest. So I
fired the XP machine up again and tried. But it's got all
screwed up and I can't get it working now.

It is a little hairy to get running well. But IMO well worth it.
I have never tried it on Win 3.11 but SOME day I will install
3.11 on an old 486 and see just how it behaves on the platform
it was written for. For me, it works perfectly well on 95 and
98. And on several txt programs in XP, as well. Not all.

 

[thanatoid]

VERY VERY VERY bad! Was it Dan S.?

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit


Thanks for caring

That last remark *is* a joke, in reply to yours.

Where would we be without jokes...

Having re-installed 95B on my 1997 166 MHz PI with 96 MB RAM,
after it ran 98SELite less-than satisfactorily (I thought the
"Lite", with the 3 main sys files from 95B/C would run as fast
as 95B did - WRONG!), I almost think 95B was the best. Over 60MB
RAM free, fast, stable, simple... ahhhh...

(I keep on forgetting I have not really tried anything past XP
Pro SP3, but they can NOT be less insane than XP.)

But to lapse into seriousness for a moment:

.... you SICKO...

I have no plans
to go back, beyond the VM I have described elsewhere that I
use for a couple of apps that I rarely run.

Ever heard of/tried Haiku (the reborn BeOS)?

If I ever finish organizing all my crap and archiving what
matters, I want to try it. It looks REALLY nice, and there is a
ton of BeOS programs which it apparently runs. And people are
working on new stuff.

 

[thanatoid]

After reviewing "DisplaySet", reading the entire article
about it, and the guy droning on about all the programming
involved (yes, I'm a programmer), that utility is nothing
more than another way to access the "Appearance" settings
and color scheme, etc., and show you a preview of all of
the setting, not just a few like the standard Windows
dialog does.

I am aware. Works great on 9x-XP. Maybe on laters as well.
Simpler is better, small is beautiful, etc.

That's nothing like WindowBlinds or the
composting

Composting? (Open re-reading, I assume you meant "compositing",
but I don't know what that means.)

window manager I'm using in this Linux install,
which allow you to change the complete look of all window
elements.....not just fonts and colors.

Like I say at least twice a year, I use the computer to DO
stuff, not change the decals every two weeks, but it DOES have
to fulfill basic standards of aesthetic acceptability. The
Windows Blinds is full of "schemes" designed by people who give
the impression of wishing a new Star Wars episode would come out
every month, most of them butt-ugly.

For the last few years I have been on an all-gray color palette,
and changing the wallpaper once in a while fulfills my need to
see something interesting when no programs are maximized. Most
of the time I DO stuff. (Like annoy people on the Usenet.)

While you may find asthetically pleasing and easy to look
at "ridiculous and useless", others do not.

No argument here. Except with the grammar and syntax.

That's more BS. I can wait 1/2 second for "Write" to load,
or 8 seconds for an actual word processor to load, and then
after 10 minutes of typing, saved a whole 7.5 seconds. That
is truly meaningless.

You are a programmer and really know what you are doing. I bet
you have /many/ of all the crappy "idiot-help" services turned
off. Word does NOT fire up in 8 seconds for most people, trust
me (well, maybe on a 2-week-old super-machine).

You HAVE seen other people "use" computers, haven't you?

I'm skirting nothing. The problem is, you have some inane
answer for everything.

Yes, don't you just love it?

BTW, you may have read the little "tying up ends" post where I
mentioned that the first 4 links from the google search page you
provided /all/ say accounts can not be combined. Well, that is
*unacceptable*.

And I would just LOVE to see the Start Menus for the different
users AND what Task Manager shows after you copy everything from
*each* one to *all the other* "docs and settings" directories,
as a couple of the sites suggested as a "solution".

I am not.

Well, you just said you were using SOME Linux flavor, whatever
it is. I thought somewhere in your headers it said Ubuntu. But
it may have been someone else. OK, maybe you don't use it, but I
am sure you COULD if you wanted to, unless you meant you ARE
smart enough NOT to use Ubuntu but to use some *other* Linux
distro. But obviously you ARE smart enough to tame Windows, or
at least not fight the Redmond City Hall.

And consider everything dropped at this point.

Well, that sounds rather ominous... but... OK... [looks
around...]

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Ever heard of/tried Haiku (the reborn BeOS)?

Echoes of the past!

No, I never heard of Haiku, but there was a time (maybe 1998?) when I
had Windows, a couple of different Linuces, and BeOS on my multiple boot
computer.

After a few months I went back to just Windows, but IIRC, I found BeOS a
bit of fun...

I'll look for a Haiku site so I can at least have a bit of fun
reminiscing...

 

[Char Jackson]

You are a programmer and really know what you are doing. I bet
you have /many/ of all the crappy "idiot-help" services turned
off. Word does NOT fire up in 8 seconds for most people, trust
me (well, maybe on a 2-week-old super-machine).

On my 3-year old computer that was nothing fancy even when it was new,
Word fires up faster than I can say "one thousand one, one thousand
two". Eight seconds seems like a long time, if that's what you're
seeing.

 

[soup]

On my 3-year old computer that was nothing fancy even when it was new,
Word fires up faster than I can say "one thousand one, one thousand
two". Eight seconds seems like a long time, if that's what you're
seeing.

Just tried it on this system, it is a sub £300 PC world job, and Word[1]
starts in three seconds.

[1] Part of Office 2007

 

[Ken Blake]

On my 3-year old computer that was nothing fancy even when it was new,
Word fires up faster than I can say "one thousand one, one thousand
two". Eight seconds seems like a long time, if that's what you're
seeing.

You don't say what version of Word you're using, and the version
probably makes a difference in how long it takes to start.

But I just tried here. Word 2010 takes two seconds and WordPerfect X5
(my word processor of choice) about the same.

Yes, eight seconds seems like a long time.

 

[SC Tom]

You don't say what version of Word you're using, and the version
probably makes a difference in how long it takes to start.

But I just tried here. Word 2010 takes two seconds and WordPerfect X5
(my word processor of choice) about the same.

Yes, eight seconds seems like a long time.

I tried Word 2003 on my 8 year old system (XP SP3) and it took 3 seconds, so
I would agree that 8 seconds is a long time, but still not much in the
greater scheme of things.

 

[Ken Blake]

I tried Word 2003 on my 8 year old system (XP SP3) and it took 3 seconds, so
I would agree that 8 seconds is a long time, but still not much in the
greater scheme of things.

I agree with you on that too. Wasting five seconds every now and then
is almost never a serious problem.