[Opera 11.10]

Just an FYI for you Opera users, and those that should be. It's fast!

 

Wow, a new Opera release and Patch Tuesday all in the same day. It's like Christmas in April!

[Chromium-Based Browser Extensions/Apps]

I use Iron and have Adblock Plus, Fit To Width, and WOT. I would probably have more, but Iron is only my backup browser.

[Fingers at the ready]

How dorky does it make you when you actually look forward to Patch Tuesday?

[Fingers at the ready]

Wow! It's scary knowing that until Tuesday, our machines have that many critical security holes that are vulnerable and unpatched.

[Opera Extensions.]

I use WOT, Turn Off the Lights, and Popup Statusbar. With Popup Status bar, you can disable Opera's standard status bar to save on screen space (just like Iron/Chrome).

[April Desktops]

Machine #1

 

[VIDEO EDITOR NEEDED]

I've had good luck with Avidemux.

[Hosts File Update]

MVPS hosts updated 03-31-11.

[I need a little HOSTS file help]

How do you lock/block your hosts file to keep it from being tampered with or hijacked, and at the same time keep HostsMan active and functional? I can protect my hosts file with my firewall, but it also blocks HostsMan from accessing it and functioning properly.

WinPatrol can detect malicious changes to your hosts file.

[Mozilla Firefox 4]

I've tried the RC releases and like them, but Opera still feels slightly faster to me.

I think so too. On "lightweight" sites, I don't see a difference between Opera, Firefox, or Chrome/Iron. However on resource-intensive sites like eBay for example, Opera uses less CPU and loads the page faster. Also with Opera, you can scroll smoothly as the page loads, whereas Firefox and Iron are jumpy for me as the page loads. It's for those reasons that I've stuck with Opera for so long.

[Mozilla Firefox 4]

So far I'm really liking it a lot. It's making me consider switching from Opera actually.

[Services.msc window not displaying right]

I had a very similar problem on my XP SP3 machine several weeks ago, but rather than affecting the Services window, it affected the Windows Security Center. I never did find a fix, so I ended up formatting and re-installing Windows from scratch. That obviously doesn't help you, just thought I'd share.

[Hosts File Update]

hpHosts updated again 03-20-11.

[Internet Explorer 9]

9.0.8112.16421 64-bit

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. I had installed the RC a few weeks ago, but Windows Update wasn't picking up on any available updates after the final version was released (not sure why it didn't). Just had to install 9 final manually.

[Internet Explorer 9]

I'm trying to use it as a default browser now, but ad blocking is not easy (TPLs block too much, Simple AdBlock is paid now, other ad blockers are waaay to old...). And fonts are still blurry

The Windows hosts file is super easy and works for all browsers.

 

Would you mind posting your full version string if you use 32-bit?

[Internet Explorer 9]

I use Opera 11 as primary and Iron 10 as backup.

 

Can someone post their full version string? I installed the RC a couple weeks ago and Windows Update isn't picking up on an update, so I want to make sure I have the latest version.

[I need a little HOSTS file help]

Very interesting. Do you advise using it or not?

I do. The only disadvantage is you cannot disable individual domains since there are multiple listed per line. It sounds like you want to do that, so you may not want to use the optimization.

[Chrome 10 is out]

Well that wish was quickly granted. Iron 10 is out! http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron_download.php

[Chrome 10 is out]

Here's to hoping that Iron is updated to version 10 soon as well.

[Cleanmem memory manager]

My Acer Laptop has the same 1.25 GB RAM.

It has Dual Boot XP Home and W7 Ultimate.

Boot into XP and it is ready before I have put boiling water on my morning coffee.

Boot into W7 and I have time to prepare and eat a 3 course breakfast before W7 is ready to obey me.

 

I now have W7 Ultimate on a desktop with 4 GB RAM and it is VERY much faster.

Wow! My PC goes from pressing the power button to ready to use in about 30 seconds! Windows 7 is the fastest booting OS I've ever used.

[Cleanmem memory manager]

It shouldn't be cleanmem. Cleanmem is only running when the task scheduler runs it, then when it is done it closes. SO total time CleanMem is running is about 2 sec. every 15 min by default.

 

The mini monitor does very little as it is just reading windows api's.

 

You can try disabling CleanMem from running and see if it makes a difference. But in the 5 years CleanMem has been out I have never seen or heard of it causing any problems.

 

Shane

I didn't see that because Tom posted between me and you and you didn't quote me so I skimmed right past it.

 

I understand how CleanMem works so I was surprised to experience any issues. I'm currently testing the PC without it running and will report back. Is it possible that I don't have enough RAM for Windows 7 if something like CleanMem is constantly clearing out RAM? Then again, I thought CleanMem was ideal is for lower memory computers, so I'm at a loss at this point.

[Cleanmem memory manager]

Any idea on my issue?

[I need a little HOSTS file help]

Exactly, how do you do this with HostsMan?

 

Also, once you identify an unwanted HOSTS entry(s) using the log file, do you delete the entry(s), disable it, or something else?????

Once you've identified the problem host, in HostsMan go to Hosts -> Exclusion List and add it there. That should be all that's necessary. HostsMan will continue to recognize that excluded site even after hosts file updates.

[Cleanmem memory manager]

Thanks for letting me know. The CleanMem.ini was set to always overwrite in the setup instead of never. I have changed that :-)

 

I will update the setup now and it will be that way in future setups.

 

Shane

I'm wondering if you could diagnose my experiences with CleanMem. It works great on my secondary computer (XP Pro, Athlon 64x2, 1GB RAM). However, on my primary computer (specs in sig), many things get jumpy when CleanMem is installed and set to run every 15 minutes. YouTube videos have the audio starting immediately but the video is black for several seconds before appearing, Google Earth is jumpy, and just a general slowness to starting apps and internet browsing. Any idea why it works so well on one computer, but seemingly not so well on another?

[I need a little HOSTS file help]

Do either of you load HostMan or HostsServer when Windows starts and run them active, or do you just launch them when you have a "special need"? Part of my reason for asking is that I'm not sure how resource intensive they are.

Because I use Opera, I don't keep HostsServer running. I also never keep HostsMan running to save on system resources (I have no need for auto update checking). On my secondary (XP) machine, I use Iron more than Chrome so I do keep HostsServer running there, and it uses about 6MB of RAM and essentially no CPU.