WINDOWS DIRLIST TWEAK

Ok, first, I admit it: there are various programs out there that will do this for you. But I like to tweak and this isn't that hard.

CRITICAL NOTES FOR WINDOWS XP USERS!!! - Read this FIRST!!! (.rtf file) This also applies to the Make Multiple Folders batch command.

Ever want to get a DOS-like directory listing of a folder you're looking at in Windows Explorer? I do all the time. I've found a way to not only see such a Dir listing, but I've also made it easy by putting options on the Explorer context menus so I can right-click a folder or sub-folder in Explorer and then choose from various options on a menu. I can view the Dir listing, print it, or save it to a text file. I can perform the options on the clicked-on folder only or on that folder and all sub-folders.

You might use this to get a Dir listing of every file in your Audio Files folder and sub-folders showing you every mp3 file on your system, their folder locations, sizes, time and date stamps, and a summary of the number of files and disk space occupied, by folder and for the entire directory structure surveyed.

See this RTF file which describes how to add these functions to your system - 45Kb

Or download this ZIP file containing all documentation, batch, and .reg files for installing to a Windows XP system.

Here are some screen shots - (NOTE - 3 large image files may take some time to display)

Humorous Update - June 9, 2008. I read a "tips" article by Steve Bass of PC World Magazine which talked about printing folders. It included a link to a Microsoft page on the topic. After I read the page here's a note I sent to Steve:

I always like your tips and tricks articles, Steve, but the section on printing folders totally cracked me up when I went to the link to the Microsoft article online. It's basically the same thing that I have on my Web page: http://edmullen.net/utility.php (see the first section "DIRLIST TWEAK"). I wrote my version back in 1999 after seeing an article in the October 1998 edition of PC Computing magazine. I've had it online in one form or another since at least 1999. Nice to see MS is catching up! ;-)

MAKE MULTIPLE FOLDERS - Windows XP Tip

It's sometimes handy to be able to make several new sub-folders in a directory. This tip is from Scott Dunn in the February 2006 issue of PC World magazine. The original article was here.

The process is done by a batch (.cmd) file. I customized it a tiny bit with a slightly more descriptive prompt. You can download it here by right-clicking and saving the file.

Here are the contents of the batch file:

The instructions for registering the command are in this .rtf file.

To use the tip:

• In Windows Explorer right-click the folder where you want the new folder(s) to appear.
• Choose Make Multiple Folders.
• Enter the new folder names all on one line separated by spaces. e.g., Abe Bob Cathy.
• Press ENTER.

NOTE: If the folder name you are typing contains a space enclose it in quotes, e.g., Abe "Bob Smith" Cathy. This example would create three folders named Abe, Bob Smith, and Cathy.

WINDOWS XP INTERNET TIME SYNC TIPS

Windows XP's clock can automatically synchronize itself to an Internet time server. Double-click the clock in the System Tray, click the "Internet Time" tab, check the box "Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server."

The default interval is 7 days, however there are ways to change that.

If you're unsure of how to use regedit ... DO NOT PROCEED!

To change the interval that Windows XP updates the time using the Internet time servers via regedit, navigate to:

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services \W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient

2. Select "SpecialPollInterval"

3. Change decimal value from 604800 to a different value in seconds. i.e.: 172800 (2 Days) or 86400 (1 Day) and so on.

If you don't like manually editing your registry, you can use this script instead:

It is safe to run on an XP system. Right-click the above link and save it to a folder on your hard disk, and then simply double-click the file. It will prompt you to enter the desired number of hours between XP's Internet time re-synchronization.

One last thing. You can add additional Internet time servers to Windows XP list. You can create your own list of favorite servers or use the following file to do install them automatically:

add_time_servers.reg

Again, download and run as per the above instructions. Here's what's in the .reg file:

I have used all of these methods on my systems, they work fine, and are benign. However, all of these involve changes to your Windows registry so set a Restore Point AND back up your registry before making the changes. And don't call me if something goes wrong! ;-)

SIMPLE WINDOWS AUDIO CONTROLS - These are FREE utilities

I keep a MUTE shortcut in my Quick Launch tray in Windows XP. It's wonderful for when you're browsing and don't want to wake the better half with accidental sounds blasting when you land on some silly web page. I've used both of these programs on Windows 98 and Windows XP.

MUTE and SETVOL are two FREE utilities by Christian Klukas (who used to have a web site but it seems to have slipped away into the Internet Beyond).

DOWNLOAD LINKS at edmullen.net

Download MUTE.EXE

Download SETVOL.EXE

DOWNLOAD LINKS at PC World Magazine

Info and downloads for MUTE

Info and downloads for SETVOL

Mute.exe

By itself, Mute simply turns the system sound on and off. If you put it in your Quick Launch toolbar (or any toolbar), it's a faster way to mute or unmute sound than waiting for the volume control to appear when you click the Volume icon in the tray.

If you add command-line switches, it can do more. For example,

mute.exe on - always mutes.

mute.exe off - always unmutes.

If you add the "-delay" switch

mute.exe on -delay - Mute will stay quietly in memory until you logoff or shutdown Windows; it will then mute the sound at that time.

Setvol.exe

If you have multiple users using the same computer, this application can be used to adjust the volume level automatically every time a user logs on. SetVol lets you make custom shortcuts for setting the volume of the sounds your computer makes.

Running the program with no command line switches simply gets you a pop-up window of explanation. The real power of this little thing comes from customized shortcuts. If you use + or -, you can create shortcuts that increase or decrease volume in increments of 10%. For example, this shortcut makes the volume 10 percent louder:

Setvol.exe +10

On the other hand, you can also omit the + or - to set the volume at an absolute level. For example, the command line:

Setvol.exe 100 would turn the volume up to the max, while the command line:

Setvol.exe 25 would set the volume to 25% of max.

Here are examples of what I did on my systems.

• Create a folder for the program and shortcuts, for instance - C:\Program Files\Setvol\
• Put a copy of setvol.exe in the new Setvol folder
• Create shortcuts for various handy volume settings like:

If you use three-digit names for the shortcuts (as above) they will properly sort in the toolbar view I describe below. You can then set the volume by double-clicking on one of those shortcuts.

To make it easy to access the shortcuts you can do a couple of things. One is to put a copy of the Setvol folder on your Desktop and/or Start menu. Another (which I use) is to create a toolbar in the Windows Quick Launch bar. Right-click in the Quick Launch bar, click Toolbars, click New Toolbar, navigate to the Setvol folder (C:\Program Files\Setvol\) and click OK. Windows will normally show the name of the folder with a double arrow you can click on to reveal the contents of the folder. When I want to set the volume it is simply two clicks: one to open the folder and one to click the appropriate shortcut.

CONVERT 'EM - Excel workbook that converts many common measurements.

I first did this back in 1997 when I needed to convert some measurements and copy/paste them into a spreadsheet. Let me know if you find any errors in it. Download CNVRTEM.XLS