Background Image Location

I was looking for the current background image's location.  It took me a while to find it.

Here it is:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper.jpg

Tixati's Secret Command Line

For a long time I've be wishing for some command line options for Tixati.

One day I enabled Tixati to start with windows hidden in system tray, with a 1 minute delay.  Windows doesn't support these options, so they had to be program specific...

Curious I investigated how it's done and I found the startup entry listed as this:

"C:\Program Files\tixati\tixati.exe" -starthiddenintray -d1

So I found some secret Command line parameters not mentioned in any guide:
-closenow: exits any running program
-starthiddenintray: start hidden in tray (self explanatory)
-startminimized: start minimized (self explanatory)
-d# delay of how long Tixati should wait before working (It still has it's icon in the tray waiting.  you can click it beforehand to launch immediately)

I wonder if there were any other command line switches?

Edit: using procexp, I searched the strings and found "closenow" near the other two strings.   Tested to work so adding to the list

Finally, a company that does something right

Some time ago my laptop charger died.  I had the choice between a new Targus charger and a generic brand charger at Best Buy.  I went for the Targus one even though it cost a little more.  Later down the road my charger had intermittent problems, and finally ceased working.  My brother has a netbook charger for the same brand (Toshiba) but was about 1/4th the amperage of mine, so it would barely keep my laptop alive.  I pulled out the voltmeter and tested each part to find that the interchangeable tip had a problem.  I didn't have a receipt so I braced for the usual company warranty bullcrap that everyone seems to give.  I was so surprised about contacting Targus, I think they deserve a pat on the back.  They didn't even ask for proof of purchase.
Here is my chat log with them:

Tachis Alopex: Hello
Tachis Alopex: The tip connector for my targus charger for my toshiba laptop is broken.
Kenneth: I am sorry that you have a broken Power Tip for your adapter. I would be happy to assist you.
Kenneth: Which model of charger do you have?
Tachis Alopex: APA31US
Kenneth: Thank you, and what is the model of your Toshiba computer?
Tachis Alopex: L505-S6946
Kenneth: "P" is the compatible tip. I would be happy to set up a part order to replace the broken tip for you.
Tachis Alopex: So that is covered under the warrenty?
Kenneth: Yes, it is, and the tip would be complimentary to you since the one you currently have is broken. When and from where was the charger purchased?
Tachis Alopex: Great! Best Buy, around the beginning of the year
Kenneth: January?
Tachis Alopex: Either January or February
Tachis Alopex: I'm not sure
Kenneth: Alright. What would be the address and phone for where the tip would be sent?
Tachis Alopex: [My home address]
Tachis Alopex: [My phone number]
Kenneth: Thank you for that information. The part order will be processed upon the conclusion of the chat session. Would there be something more with which I could assist you?
Tachis Alopex: That's it. Thank you so much! you are a life saver.
Kenneth: Thank you for contacting Targus Live Chat. Have a wonderful day.
Tachis Alopex: you too
'Tachis Alopex' disconnected ('Concluded by End-user').

Okay, that surprised me... I mean not asking for a receipt pleased me, but that wasn't the end of my pleasant surprises.  I got an email confirming the delivery the same day, and said "so you should allow up to ten (10) business days for the tip to arrive."  USPS ground.  Standard throughout companies, a little long but I ain't paying for anything so I'm not complaining.  This chat happened Thursday,  05/10.  Guess what happened to arrive in the mail today.  My connector! Monday, 5/14.  It was order, processed and shipped in technically 1 business day.  Brand loyalty went up a ton.

Why can't most companies do this?  I can bet I'll remember this and buy targus between other brands just remembering this incident.  Did it wear out? yes (but that was probably my fault), but a TWO year warranty on the charger, made it right... and made it right fast.

Lastly I want to add what would happen if my warranty ran out.  While the Targus representative was setting things up, I looked for the price of a replacement. The Targus website sells the tips for $10 with about $5 shipping.  Pretty steep price for a little tip.  So I Googled Targus coupon... and the first page I got to showed "Free charger connector tips" And sure enough I plugged it into the site and it was just the price of shipping.

Hat's off to you Targus, for not screwing over your customers when something goes wrong.  I'm glad that I could post this from my completely charged laptop.

Getting notepad to obey

I always wanted notepad to be ran as admin.  I can't think of a case where I didn't want it to be.  So I browsed to notepad.exe and was going to turn on "always run as admin" but the option was blanked out.  I figured out how to bypass that though.  Do these three easy steps if you want always admin notepad

1. open regedit.
2. go to:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
3. add a value (a string):
   Name: C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe
   Value: RUNASADMIN

That's it!  I never see any privilege error messages again using notepad.  You can do this for any application, but be aware that it will always be ran with elevated privileges.

Fix the windows OS Letter assignment

Hello!

I recently move a few partitions on my hard drive, and when I booted up windows... boot error.

That's somewhat expected so I tried to use startup repair, it worked... until I got stuck right after the loading screen.

I found that "C:" was missing, and "D:" was assigned to what "C:" should be. Here's how I fixed it:

1. Before you shutdown, make a note of what letter is currently incorrectly assigned, in my case, it was "D"
2. First of all, you need your windows disk, plop it in, and boot from it. When it finishes loading, do not click install. Instead, click repair.
3. Lauch command prompt
4. We can't just use regedit to fix the problem because we are in a windows pre-install enviroment, with it's own registry.  So we need to run a command:
   reg load HKLM\TempOS C:\windows\system32\config\system
   
   Now, "C" might be the wrong letter! windows preinstall enviroment automatically assigns letters to the drives and partitions of your computer.  You may need to use these commands
   cd /d [Letter]:
   dir
   the first Changes Directory.  /d means change to a different Drive, then you would type C: D: E:, etc.
   the second command lists the folders and files of the drive.  If you see "windows" and "program files" then congrats you found the drive/partition that you want to fix
5. type regedit to open the registry editor
6. browse to HKLM/TempOS/CurrentControlSet/MountedDevices
7. find the value that has \DosDevice\C:
   rename that to any other untaken letter
8. find the value that has \DosDevice\[the incorrect letter]:
   this should be the letter that you took note of in step 1.  rename that one to \DosDevice\C:
9. Exit regedit, and run this command
   reg unload HKLM\TempOS
10. Reboot and all should be well!

Hope that worked.  As always, comment if you have any questions or need help!

Windows 8 and Intel graphics driver

Edit: I'm surprised that people are still look at this blog post.  It's a bit outdated (around 8 months 3 years). It seems people are still dealing with this... So I'm going to clean up this guide.

• Next "Unknown" mentioned that there was no need to mod any files for his Intel 965 Express chipset. This probably dependent on the specific installers for each chipset.  Before modding the files, just try it!  Hopefully you'll get lucky.
• Next "Testr" from the comments provide a link to some preedited drivers on windows eightforums.  These drivers are made by people much smarter than I and will most likely work the best for you.  If your chipset is not in that link I still suggest that you search the windows eightforums first.

If none of that worked for you, here is the old guide. Good luck!:
This guide is to install graphics drivers for the "Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family (GM45)," and perhaps other similar integrated Intel graphics drivers for windows 8 or 8.1

Intel did not come out with drivers for Windows 8 that supports OpenGL (for things like Minecraft). We are going to use Windows 7's drivers, but they won't just install on a mismatching version of Windows. Here is the result of my efforts to get this to work:

1. Download the Windows 7 drivers (zip) for your architecture (x64 or x86) Here is the download page for those having the 4 Series like me:
   4 series (32-bit)
   4 series (x64)
   If you have a different series, go to Intel's download center and search for your chipset series­
2. Unzip it, and open that folder. (Do not just double click the zip file or you could have problems opening, editing, saving, and running the installer!)
3. Open the subfolder "Graphics/"
4. Find igdlh64.inf.  32bit will probably be named similar.  It'll be the only .inf (setup information file) in that folder.  Open it with Notepad Find the line that says:
   

   [Manufacturer]
   %Intel%   = IntelGfx, NTamd64.5.1, NTamd64.6.0, NTamd64.6.2 
   
   [IntelGfx.NTamd64.5.1]
   ; no install on XP
   
   [IntelGfx.NTamd64.6.2]
   ; no install on Win8
   
   [IntelGfx.NTamd64.6.0]
   %iCNTG0% = iCNT0, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2A42

   
   Edit that to remove the OS checking. We will deleted everything in red. When you are done it should look something like this
   

   [Manufacturer]
   %Intel%   = IntelGfx, NTamd64
   
   [IntelGfx.NTamd64]
   %iCNTG0% = iCNT0, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2A42

   
   ---If you are running 32 bit windows, this should be the end of the guide for you. Run the installer and it should work--
   
5. If you are running 64 bit windows, then you will encounter a signed driver problem, because we are trying to install drivers that weren't "signed" (they were not checked for compatibility, etc.) for windows 8. We are going to have to disable driver enforcement. To do that:
6. Restart your computer by hold the shift key and push the restart button.
7. Find disable driver enforcement, and boot up with that option.
8. Finally Go back to the Intel folder and run setup.exe.  When the red box of doom pops up saying it's unsigned, accept it (you can trust Intel).
   
   ---If your setup was like mine, this might be the end of the guide for you.  If it works without any more complication, reboot and enjoy.  If you are having more problems, continue---
   
9. Still having Problems?  This part didn't apply to me, but joshmertz had some other problems. Specifically: Setup.exe is not looking in the right spot for MediaSDK.
10. First thing you want to do is go to C:/intel/logs/IntelGFX.log.  This shows what went wrong during installation.  Scroll down to the bottom.
11. IF you see this:

    [Install]
    Looking for MediaSDK configuration at
    C:\Users\Username\Downloads\Win7Vista_64_151718\Graphics\MediaSDK\config.ini
    * config.ini not found
    Reading action file 
    C:\Users\Username\Downloads\Win7Vista_64_151718\Graphics\setup.if2
    ! Error loading action file

    Then we are having problems with Intel's setup looking in the wrong spot. I'm not sure why, but this can be solved by copying setup.if2, setup2.if2 files, and the MediaSDK folder, then pasting them inside the Graphics Folder. Try to install again.
12. If this doesn't work, post your log in the comments and we'll see if we can fix it!

Congrats. if nothing went wrong, you now have new video drivers.  If something isn't working (or heaven forbid you computer explodes) write me a comment, and I'll see what I can do to help.

Hello World!

Hello World!

Here is a generic template to get me started.