gMKVExtractGUI

 

A GUI for mkvextract utility (part of MKVToolNix) which incorporates most (if not all) functionality of mkvextract and mkvinfo utilities.

Written in C# .NET 4.0, in order to attain high compatibility with Windows OS (WinXP and newer Windows), as well as Linux through Mono (v1.6.4 and newer), and perhaps OSX (not tested).

Features

Use 100% of mkvextract functionality (supports extraction of tracks, timecodes, attachments, chapters in both XML and OGM, tags and CUE sheet)

Supports batch extraction of multiple files (from v2.0.0 and above)

Supports custom output filename patterns (from v2.5.0 and above)

Use mkvinfo and mkvmerge to analyse mkv elements really really fast

Finds the audio track's delay relative to video and writes it to the extracted filename

Automatically detects MKVToolnix installation directory from registry

It doesn't require the executable to be placed inside MKVToolnix directory

Uses file extensions for tracks according to CODEC_ID as defined in official mkvextract documentation

Uses separate thread for invoking mkvextract in order to have a responsive GUI

Incorporates a job mode for batch extracting (new in v1.6)

Supports all Windows Versions from WinXP and above

Supports Linux through Mono (from v1.6.4 and above)

Supports High DPI evironments (from v2.2.0 and above)

https://sourceforge.net/projects/gmkvextractgui

You will also need download "MKVToolnix" and install first which you can download here:

https://mkvtoolnix.download/downloads.html

Calibre

 I've used this program for a number of years, though I don't do much reading, I mostly have used it to convert books from one format to another.

Calibre

Calibre is a powerful and easy to use e-book manager. Users say it’s outstanding and a must-have. It’ll allow you to do nearly everything and it takes things a step beyond normal e-book software. It’s also completely free and open source and great for both casual users and computer experts.

Save time on managing your e-book collection

Use it everywhere and with anything

Comprehensive e-book viewer

Download news/magazines from the web

Share and backup your library easily

Edit the books in your collection

Satisfy every e-book need and get support

https://calibre-ebook.com/download

K-Lite Codec Pack

 Ever try playing a video and it wouldn't play? Or you got the message "No codec found"? Maybe you'll want to download "K-Lite Codec Pack". I used this codec pack for a long time and it pretty much plays everything. It also automatically updates so you have the latest codec releases.

About the K-Lite Codec Pack

The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of DirectShow filters, VFW/ACM codecs, and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your audio and movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even several less common formats.

General strong points:

It is very user-friendly and easy to use.

It is updated frequently. So it is always up-to-date with the newest and best components.

The pack provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience for novice users, while at the same time offering many options for expert users to tweak things.

All included components have been carefully selected by codec experts.

The pack offers a high level of flexibility. You can for example configure your preferred decoders and splitters for many formats.

Works great in combination with Windows Media Player and Media Center. Both also with other popular DirectShow players such as Media Player Classic, ZoomPlayer, KMPlayer, PotPlayer, GOM Player, and many others.

Uninstallation removes everything that was installed by the pack. Including all registry keys. All changes are properly undone and reverted to the state prior to the installation of the pack.

It contains everything you need to play all your movies and music.

This pack has a huge user base. This means that problems are found and resolved quickly.

Unique features compared to other codec packs:

The pack works on all versions of Windows from XP up to Windows 10. The intelligent installer automatically adapts itself based on your version of Windows. It also adapts itself based on what other codecs are already installed on your computer.

Contains both 32-bit and 64-bit codecs.

The installer is able to detect broken codecs and DirectShow filters on your system, and helps you to fix those problems. This unique functionality has helped thousands of people solve problems they were unable to fix themselves or with other packs.

The installation is fully customizable. You can choose which components you want to install.

It is extremely easy to make a fully customized unattended installation with the integrated wizard.

The pack has many options, which allows you to tweak it to your own specific needs and preferences.

It helps clean up other codecs installed on your computer. The installer is able to detect and remove over 100 different codec and filter packs. This helps you get rid of old junk, prevents conflicts, and leaves you with just the essential and best codecs.

It does not contain any codecs or filters that are known to be bad, buggy or unstable. In fact, the installer is able to detect and disable several known troublemakers that may already be present on your computer. This solves problems and improves system stability.

There are different variants of the pack. From small to large. You can pick the one that fits your needs.

The pack implements special blacklists for some of its included DirectShow filters. These blacklists are used to avoid compatibility issues with certain applications and games. Helpdesks and other support staff often recommend the K-Lite Codec Pack because of its abilities to fix problems and its features to ensure optimal compatibility.

Advantages of the pack compared to installing codecs manually:

The best available codecs are already selected for you by codec experts. There is no need to figure out what you need.

Installation is simpler, quicker, and more organized.

It is much easier to keep all your codecs up-to-date. There no need to keep track of updates to individual components.

Components are automatically configured to work together in perfect harmony. Something that is not easily achieved if you would install everything manually. Certainly not if you use a mix of different splitters and decoders.

Better default settings.

More configuration options during installation. This is particularly useful for unattended installs.

The pack provides extended video thumbnail generation functionality for Windows Explorer. All popular video file formats are supported.

Adds support for showing file properties such as duration and width/height in Windows Explorer for FLV and MKV video files.

The pack automatically configures Windows Media Player and Media Center to recognize all common audio and video file formats, so that such files show up in your media library. Normally this would require all kinds of manual Registry tweaks.

The pack includes very useful tools for managing and configuring the installed codecs.

Advantages of the codec pack compared to using a standalone copy of MPC-HC:

The codec pack includes extra video renderers that are required for HDR video playback.

The codec pack takes care of creating file associations.

The codec pack provides easy options to configure hardware acceleration, audio output settings, and preferred languages for audio and subtitles.

The codec pack supports playback of a few more audio and video formats.

You get better video quality when you use MPC-HC in combination with madVR. This is an advanced video renderer that is included in the codec pack.

You get more frequent updates of MPC-HC. The pack includes stable development builds of MPC-HC and LAV Filters. This means you will get access to the latest improvements and fixes much sooner.

The pack provides additional functionality that is not directly related to playback. For example video thumbnail generation in Windows Explorer, and display of MKV file properties in Windows Explorer.

The codecs are available to other applications as well (if you want). It is also possible to install the codecs just for MPC-HC.

Advantages of the codec pack compared to using VLC Player:

You get better video quality when you use MPC-HC in combination with madVR (an advanced video renderer).

The pack provides additional functionality that is not directly related to playback. For example video thumbnail generation in Windows Explorer, and display of MKV file properties in Windows Explorer.

The pack provides more hardware acceleration options.

Better support for MKV files.

Better performance for rendering SSA/ASS subtitles.

MPC-HC loads faster than VLC.

MPC-HC provides a better user interface (in our opinion).

Codecs are also available to other applications.

Variants

There are four variants of the K-Lite Codec Pack:

The basic variant contains everything you need to play all the common video file formats. Such as AVI, MKV, MP4, OGM, and FLV. This pack is for those who like a small no-nonsense pack. It is small, but powerful.

The standard variant contains a few additional features compared to the basic variant. It contains Media Player Classic, which is an excellent player for video files. This pack is recommended for the average user.

The full variant has some extras compared to the standard variant. It additionally contains GraphStudioNext, and a few extra DirectShow filters.

The mega variant is the most complete pack. It additionally contains VFW/ACM codecs for video encoding/editing.

For detailed tables with comparisons of the abilities and contents of the different variants of the codec pack, have a look at the comparison of abilities and comparison of contents pages.

To download the K-Lite Codec Pack, visit the download page.

https://www.codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_standard.htm

Dealing With the Snow.

 Well, I decided to clear the snow last evening around 4:30 p.m. I was going to wait until this morning but was concerned someone would come along and plow out the lane before I got to it. It's nice that the do my lane, but at the same time, I'd rather not have it plowed most of the time. That's because when they plow it, they rip up the lane most of the time. My lane isn't paved so if they have the plow to low it rips of the stones or rocks in the lane. Then the one year, someone plowed it and pushed it right behind our truck, which I didn't know, and it turned it got really cold and by the time I found out that's where they pushed it, it was a big frozen pile of snow.

I guess it took a little over an hour to do the lane, where we park and turn arounds, a path out to the two sheds out back, and even a path up to the fire pit. As cold as it was, I didn't get cold at all, and the heated hand grips on the snowblower worked really well. I think that was the first time I ever used them, got maybe a little too hot.

Here's a short video (no sound) of me using the snowblower. The date on the video isn't correct. The security recorder has a problem with the date now for about 6 months.

TorrentRover

 I just downloaded this torrent finder yesterday and used it a few times. It seems to be a better torrent finder then Bit Che. Most everything I search for it came up with a torrent, though not all torrents had seeders, but it still came up with the torrent. I think maybe two or three searches I put in it didn't come up with any torrents, but I expected that being they were pretty old stuff. Anyways, it doesn't heart to give it a try if you want to try and find a torrent for something.

TorrentRover is a torrent downloader and search manager that helps you download your favorite music, movies, TV shows, applications, and more. In short, you can search, manage, and download torrent files right from your desktop.

TorrentRover has many unique features that make it superior to the average torrent site and other desktop search apps.

Features:

It’s Free!

Clean and Simple user interface

Fast searches

Simple results list (manage site results in one list sorted any way you want)

Detailed information on torrents (files, trackers, user comments)

Helpful plugins (Imdb, Wikipedia, Google, eBay, Amazon, MetaCritic, etc.)

Proxy server to protect your search privacy

Automated downloading

Portable version available

ZERO ads, spyware, viruses, or other malware

How Does it Work?

When you start TorrentRover for the first time, you will see the Quick Start video.  You should watch it.  It’ll introduce you to all the basic features and get you started off right.

The user interface of TorrentRover is very simple, even for beginners.  Just follow these simple steps to find the torrent files you are looking for:

Search torrent files by typing your search in the textbox on the upper right hand side of the main window.

Select a category from the drop down list next to the search box.  Any/All will search all categories.

Press “Go” or hit the Enter key.

Results will be displayed in the lower panel of the window.

Double click on a result to download the torrent file.

If you’re not sure which result to download, TorrentRover assigns points to each result based on how good it is.  More points = better torrent.  You can also view details for any torrent by right clicking it and selecting “View Torrent(s) Details”.  You’ll be able to see the category, age, size, files, trackers, and user comments.

https://www.torrentrover.com

Bit Che

 This is an older program that hasn't been updated for some time, but it still works.

I did run onto another program yesterday that searchers for torrents which I only used twice so far and it seems to work pretty good. I'll be posting it tomorrow.

A Bit Torrent search engine of both public and private Bit Torrent search engine.

Bit Che emerges as a versatile software utility, enabling users to download an extensive variety of torrent types, including films, television series, and eBooks, all while maintaining a strong reputation for safety and security.

Integrated search functionality:

BitTorrent users are likely familiar with the absence of a built-in search feature and the independent operation of torrent trackers, which can be frustrating. Bit Che tackles this problem head-on, offering a robust search engine that simplifies the process of finding desired content.

Bit Che's search capabilities extend to over 60 different BitTorrent sites and search engines, providing access to an expansive library of downloadable content.

Broad tracker compatibility:

The software is designed to work seamlessly with widely-used torrent trackers and includes support for numerous private or lesser-known trackers that may house hidden gems.

Bit Che's user-friendly nature is complemented by a range of search result customizations, such as seeder quantity filters, advanced word filters, and more.

In summary:

For individuals seeking a reliable and secure torrent downloading solution, Bit Che presents an excellent choice. However, it is worth noting that, depending on your location and general download speeds, the process of downloading films and television series may occasionally prove sluggish.

Overall, Bit Che offers a comprehensive and user-friendly experience for those looking to download a diverse range of torrent types securely and efficiently.

Features of Bit Che:

Auto Download: Automatically download torrents based on criteria.

Filters: Refine searches with keyword and category filters.

Library: Manage the torrents you have downloaded.

Notifications: Get notifications when new torrents are detected.

Plugins: Add 3rd-party plugins to extend Bit Che.

Preview: Preview torrents before downloading.

Proxy/Firewall: Support for proxy servers and firewalls.

RSS Feeds: Configure RSS feeds for automatic torrent downloads.

Scheduler: Set up a schedule to search for torrents.

Subtitles: Download subtitles for torrents.

Torrent Search: Quickly and easily search for torrents on multiple sites.

Web Interface: Control Bit Che from a web browser.

Compatibility and License:

Bit Che is provided under a freeware license on Windows from  P2P filesharing software with no restrictions on usage. Download and installation of this PC software is free and 3.6.2 is the latest version last time we checked.

What version of Windows can Bit Che run on?

Bit Che can be used on a computer running Windows 11 or Windows 10. Previous versions of the OS shouldn't be a problem with Windows 8 and Windows 7 having been tested. It runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems with no dedicated 64-bit download provided.

https://bit-che.en.lo4d.com/windows

What Do You Set Your Thermostat too?

 So what temp do you set your thermostat too in the winter? 68, 70, 72, 74, even higher? Or maybe you are one of these people that turn your thermostat back at night? I leave our thermostat at 72 all winter long.

I do have a problem with the idea of turning your thermostat back at night. They say you save on energy turning you thermostat back at night, but I really questing that, even if you do, I wonder what the real savings are if any? 

When you set your thermostat back at night, in the morning when you turn it back up is where I see you losing your savings. I can see having your thermostat set to a lower temp will help save money, but turning it back then to a higher temp in the morning? I question the savings.

When you turn your thermostat back at night, everything in your house cools off a few degrees. When you wake up and turn your thermostat back up, your furnace has to run longer and come on more often to get everything back up to the new temp you set the thermostat too.

Even though your furnace reaches the new higher temp, everything else in the house is still cooler being it's all at the temp that you had the thermostat lower temp set at. This being the case, the coolness off everything in the house absorbs the heat in the house causing the house to cool off faster which means your furnace will run longer and more times until everything in the house equalizes with the temps in the rooms. 

In other words, even though your thermostat reached the new higher set temp and turned off the furnace, there is still coldness coming off everything in the house cooling off the inside temp until it all warms back up to the new higher temp.

I don't think anyone like to sleep in a bedroom that's to warm, which would make for a good excuse to turning your thermostat back at night. Here it's not bad. If I keep my thermostat set at 72 deg. F., the furnace will kick on around 71 degrees, then run until the temp reaches 71 or 73 degrees. At the same time, the temp in the bedroom is 68-70 degrees.

 

2Pic

 What is 2 Pic?

2 Pic is a graphical program that you can use to edit your images (like photographs and drawings). There are already several famous programs that you can use for this, like PaintShop Pro, PhotoShop and Picture Publisher. Why should you use 2 Pic instead? Because 2 Pic is much easier to use. 

Programs like PaintShop Pro have a lot of functions, but you will need a lot of time to find out what exactly are all those functions. Sometimes, you get lost in the big number of functions. That won't be the case with 2 Pic. 2 Pic is designed for ease of use and it has a unique design with the functions clearly arranged on tabs. That's the big advantage of 2 Pic: with less time and less experience, you can do very nice things. 

2 Pic's name is because you can open two images next to each other. Many functions of 2 Pic use both images, like merging. 

What exactly can you do with 2 Pic? This list shows you the most useful functions of 2 Pic: 

Merging images with each other 

Making images fade into each other 

Spout images into each other with an aerosol 

Give images frames 

Apply cool effects to images, like: rotate, make sharper and make mosaic 

Insert texts with several layers 

Fit the size to, like, an A4 paper 

Insert gradient very easily 

The best way to see what you can do with 2 Pic, is taking a look at the examples. If you want to do such things with your images without having to find out how exactly you can do that, 2 Pic is probably good for you. 

With 2 Pic you can edit images with the following file formats: 

Bitmaps (BMP, DIB) 

Jpeg (JPG, JPEG) 

CompuServe GIF (GIF) 

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) 

ZSoft Paintbrush (PCX) 

Truevision Targa (TGA) 

Portable Pixelmaps (PPM) 

Portable Pixelmaps (PGM, PBM, PNM) - open only, not save 

Metafiles (WMF, EMF) - open only, not save 

Icons (ICO) 

Cursors (CUR) 

Animated cursors (ANI) - open only, not save

https://ln5.sync.com/dl/6f5de8140#majszess-yc4xnrff-c8ndbmyr-mkwgctme

Subtitle Edit

 Here's a program I use almost daily, either to edit subtitles, or to make subtitles. It's pretty nice to add subtitles to a movie or home video that doesn't have subtitles. Maybe you have a movie in a different language with no subtitles? Subtitle Edit will not only make subtitles for the movie, but it will also translate into the language of your choice.

Subtitle Edit Overview:

Subtitle Edit is a free (open source) editor for video subtitles - a subtitle editor :)

With SE you can easily adjust a subtitle if it is out of sync with the video in several different ways.

You can also use SE for making new subtitles from scratch (do use the time-line/waveform/spectrogram) or translating subtitles.

For a list of features see below or check out the Subtitle Edit Help page.

On my blog you can download latest beta version and read about/discuss new features.

Also, you can watch a few videos about installing and using Subtitle Edit.

A Subtitle Edit dll (LibSe.dll) is available for programmers (BSD New/Simplified license). Compile it from source code or use the NuGet package.

Download latest version of Subtitle Edit

Note: SE requires Microsoft .NET Framework Version 4.8

Get the full C# source code - GPL or LGPL license

Blu-ray sup reading code is under the Apache License and Matroska subtitle parsing uses zlib code with a BSD style license.

Features

Create/adjust/sync/translate subtitle lines

Convert between SubRib, MicroDVD, Advanced Sub Station Alpha, Sub Station Alpha, D-Cinema, SAMI, youtube sbv, and many more (300+ different formats!)

Cool audio visualizer control - can display wave form and/or spectrogram

Video player uses mpv, DirectShow, or VLC media player

Visually sync/adjust a subtitle (start/end position and speed)

Speech to text (speech recognition) via Whisper

Text to speech via e.g. via ElevenLabs, Azure, Google or local TTS engines installed on your pc

Auto Translation via Google translate, DeepL, local LLMs like Ollama and LM Studio, and many more AIs.

Rip subtitles from a (decrypted) dvd

Import and OCR VobSub sub/idx binary subtitles

Import and OCR Blu-ray .sup files - bd sup reading is based on Java code from BDSup2Sub by 0xdeadbeef)

Can open subtitles embedded inside Matroska files

Can open subtitles (text, closed captions, VobSub) embedded inside mp4/mv4 files

Can open/OCR XSub subtitles embedded inside divx/avi files

Can open/OCR DVB and teletext subtitles embedded inside .ts/.m2ts (Transport Stream) files

Can open/OCR Blu-ray subtitles embedded inside .m2ts (Transport Stream) files

Can read and write both UTF-8 and other unicode files and ANSI (support for all languages/encodings on the pc!)

Sync: Show texts earlier/later + point synchronization + synchronization via other subtitle

Merge/split subtitles

Adjust display time

Fix common errors wizard

Spell checking via Libre Office dictionaries (many dictionaries available)

Remove text for hear impaired (HI)

Renumbering

Effects: Typewriter and karaoke

History/undo manager (Undo=Ctrl+z, Redo=Ctrl+y)

Compare subtitles

Multiple search and replace

Change casing using names dictionary

Merge short lines/split long lines

Export to PNG images (+bdn xml), Adobe Encore FAB image script, VobSub, Blu-ray sup, EBU stl, PAC, and plain text

Generate video with burned-in subtitles or on transparent video

https://www.nikse.dk/subtitleedit

Lots of Snow On the Way!

 Well, I'm not really looking forward to this weekend with all the snow coming our way. I'm hoping its going to be like a few years ago when they said by morning will have 10" of snow. Woke up the next morning and nothing!

So will be getting around 14.5" of snow this weekend. I did go out yesterday and made sure the snowblower fired up, it did. If you remember I had to remove the carb and clean it out, being it wouldn't start. That's pretty bad, this makes the third year of owning this snowblower and only used it once each year before this year, so that makes it that I only used it two times before.

I did have a track drive snowblower before and hated it. The track drive snowblower worked good, but the bad thing about it is if you run out of gas or have another problem where it shuts off, you can't "free wheel" it back, you have to drag it back to the house or garage.

Another thing that I'm undecided about is the gas, not only in the snowblower, but all gas-powered equipment. I only started using gas stabilizer about two years ago. Before that I never added anything to my gas and never had a problem. My one lawn tractor I had now for 26 years and never used anything in the gas until two years ago and never had a problem with it sitting. I started using stabilizer in my gas about two years ago then I have carb troubles with the snowblower... hummm.

That leads to yet another question. You'll read here and there that if you don't use your equipment for some time to add stabilizer to the gas. Even better is to drain the gas from the tank and carb, does that make sense?

If you drain out the gas, seals, etc., will dry out, crap will form on parts from oxidation, etc. It kind of makes you wonder, should I use a stabilizer or not being I never had troubles before using it. And for draining the gas tank and carb, I don't think I would ever do that.

Any thoughts?

Shutter Encoder

 Another video converter program, "Shutter Encoder". I've been using this program for some time now and is my go-to encoder program. Shutter Encoder does have somewhat of a learning curve being there are so many features. I think the hardest part is just trying to find all the different setting. My advice is to go to the website to read about the program and if you have troubles trying to do something, read the documentation which covers everything.

A Simple and Complete Interface

Shutter Encoder is one of the best video converter software, it handles images and audio too!

It has been designed by video editors in order to be as accessible and efficient as possible.

Shutter Encoder makes use of FFmpeg to handle its encoding, allowing support for almost every codec you’ve ever heard of, and many more you haven’t.

Don’t just take our word for it though, Avid themselves recommend Shutter Encoder as part of your Media Composer and ProTools ingesting workflow!

https://www.shutterencoder.com

ShanaEncoder

 ShanaEncoder

There are a lot of video encoders out there, some better than others. ShanaEncoder is a little confusing to figure out, but it has encoded videos that I had trouble with other encoders. I don't use ShanaEncoder a lot, but I hang onto it just in case. Probably the biggest problem is figuring out how to set up the settings, but after doing it a few times it's not so bad.

As more and more multimedia file types are available to users, there has been an almost proportionate increase in utilities that convert these documents to more common formats. ShanaEncoder is one such program and with abilities to convert entire libraries to numerous formats, it is guaranteed to provide for most encoding needs.

Batch process entire folders

The application comes with several features that give it great power when handling conversions. For start, the utility supports a wide array of common and more 'exotic' multimedia formats, including: AVIs, MP3s, FLACs and 3GP2s or EVOs. All source documents can be loaded singly or in batches and drag and drop operations are also supported.

Before moving on to conversions, it should be noted that the program displays ample details related to the input files, including the format, size, bitrate, and sample rate. Another noteworthy feature is the ability to discard items from the processing queue, even while loaded in the main list.

Control the quality of the output file via the multiple available codecs

After batch loading folders, users are free to apply a preset to the queue items. These settings will be applied to the final document and include quality, size and volume modifiers. The application comes with support for most mobile device's multimedia layouts and among the multiple available output formats are also SWF, WMV, WAV and FLV options.

There are several ways of customizing output documents and users can even flip or rotate subtitles. Their font sizes and styles can be adjusted, and image effects such as hues and blurs can be added. More than ten codecs are available for use during conversions, which means users can generate highly customized documents.

The program converts single or multiple multimedia files to various common and uncommon formats

Summing up, ShanaEncoder is a very powerful converter for anyone with large multimedia libraries and in need of a batch encoder.

https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Encoders-Converter-DIVX-Related/ShanaEncoder.shtml

Photo Caption Creator

 First off, let me say these are programs I use. There are a lot of programs that no doubt does the same things, and maybe even better. The reason I use these programs is because they are free, and there not too hard to figure out how to use. I'm not one to have to sit down and try to figure out how to use a software program, I like programs you can install and pretty much figure out how to use it pretty quick.

Photo Caption Creator

Photo Caption Creator makes it easy to add a photo caption to your digital images.

The program adds an additional area to the bottom of your photo, in which you can type

the text you want to show as caption.

You can customize the font type, color and background color of the caption area and also set

custom margins to make the area more or less prominent.

If your photo already has an EXIF description, you can choose to use the existing text from the

description as photo caption. In addition to adding a visible caption to the image,

Photo Caption Creator can also write your new caption to the EXIF data of the photo.

Photo Caption Creator - add captions to your photos

Hiren’s BootCD PE

 I just used this program a few days ago. What happened was I have an older computer that came with Windows 8 when I bought it new, then upgraded to Windows 8.1, then eventually upgraded to Windows 10, after a long time of giving it some thought, but then finally upgraded it.

Around a year ago I bought a new computer with Windows 11 on it and the old computer just pretty much just sat there. The other day I got this bright idea of putting Lunix on it which I did. Well, to make a long story short, after putting Lunix on the old computer, I came to my senses and knew I didn't have the time to learn a new operating system. 

As far as Lunix running on the old computer, it seemed to run pretty well, and it looked pretty good. Another one of my big problems besides learning a new OS, was finding programs to run like the ones I used on this PC. So, this made two problems for me, learning a new OS, and finding programs in Lunix that I liked and would also have to learn how those programs worked, again, I don't have the time.

So, after a day or two, and still not messing with the old PC with Lunix on it, I decided to put Windows 10 back on it. The reason being, if I wanted to do something (whatever) on the old computer, I'd have to find a program to do what I wanted to do. With Windows on it, I can just boot it up and do what I want being I'd have all or most of the programs I use on it.

I had the a number of DVD with different versions of Windows on them, but when I tried to install any version, it ended up say it wasn't for that computer. I took it that was because the hard drive was reformatted for Lunix, not Windows. Now I was thinking how am I going to get Lunix off the computer and the hard drive formatted for Windows? 

At that point I remembered I used a program called "Hiren's Boot CD". The versions I had was versions 14 and 15 which I didn't even have anymore that I knew of. So, I went and downloaded the latest version which is below. I did as it said and made a bootable USB thumb drive which the computer booted up, then deleted the partitions, made a new one, formatted it, then rebooted it with Windows installation on a USB thumb drive and it installed fine.

As I have said before, I'm not some computer nerd, but I can find my way around things, sometimes it takes awhile, and there might be an easier way, but I can end up with the final results that I wanted.

As for the program below, there is a lot of things on there that I have no idea what they are for or what they do. As I also have said, I usually use "basic" things in the programs that I use.

Hiren’s BootCD PE

Hiren’s BootCD PE (Preinstallation Environment) is a restored edition of Hiren’s BootCD based on Windows 11 PE x64. Given the absence of official updates after November 2012, the PE version is currently under development by the fans of Hiren’s BootCD. It includes a carefully chosen set of the best free tools, designed for modern computers that support UEFI booting and need at least 4 GB of RAM.

Equipped with these invaluable tools, you can address various computer-related problems. Notably, it does not include any pirated software; instead, it exclusively contains free and legal software.

If your computer does not support a regular Windows 11 installation, it will likely boot with the Windows 11 PE version, as Windows PE versions have significantly lower hardware requirements. For instance, if your computer boots with the Windows 10 PE version, it is highly probable that it will also boot with the Windows 11 PE version.

Upon booting, the PE version attempts to install drivers for essential components such as graphics, sound, wireless and Ethernet cards for your hardware, facilitating connection to a WIFI or Ethernet network. If your WIFI or Ethernet card is not recognized by the PE version, kindly Contact Us with your hardware model. We will strive to incorporate the necessary drivers in upcoming releases.

Official releases are still available on our Old Versions page and additional information can be found on the About page. Please check the About page for more details.

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Hiren's BootCD PE x64 (v1.0.8) - ISO Content (changelog)

BCD-MBR Tools

BootIce v1.3.3

EasyBCD v2.3

Hard Disk Tools - Data Recovery

CheckDisk GUI v0.3.1

Lazesoft Data Recovery v4.7

Puran Data Recovery v1.2.1

Puran File Recovery v1.2.1

Recuva v1.53.2096

DMDE v4.0.6

ReclaiMe build 4571

PhotoRec v7.2

Unstoppable Copier v5.2

Victoria v5.37

DiskInternals Linux Reader v4.19.2

Paragon AppleFS for Windows v2.1.12

Hard Disk Tools - Defrag

Defraggler v2.22.33.995

Hard Disk Tools - Diagnostic:

GSmartControl v1.1.4

HDDScan v4.1

HDTune v2.55

WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics v1.37

Crystal Disk Info v9.2.2

Test Disk v7.2

Hard Disk Tools - Imaging

Acronis Cyber Protect b40901

AOMEI Backupper v7.3.3

Lazesoft Disk Image & Clone v4.7

Macrium Reflect PE v7.3.5925

Runtime DriveImage XML v2.60

Drive Snapshot v1.50

Hard Disk Tools - Partition Tools

AOMEI Partition Assistant v10.2.2

Macrorit Partition Extender v2.3.1

Macrorit Partition Expert v8.1.3

DiskGenius v5.5.1.1508

EaseUS Partition Master v14.5

Hard Disk Tools - Security

HDD Low Level Format Tool v4.40

Eraser v6.2.0.2993

VeraCrypt v1.26.7

Windows Recovery

Lazesoft Windows Recovery v4.7

Other Tools

FSViewer v7.8

Free Office rev 703

Sumatra PDF v3.5.2

7-Zip v23.01

ExamDiff Pro v1.9.3

HxD v2.5.0

Notepad++ v8.6.2

WinMerge v2.16.36

VLC Media Player v3.0.20

TreeSize v4.7.1.525

IrfanView v4.62

NVDA v2023.3.3 (Ctrl + Alt + N)

Removable Drive Tools

CDBurnerXP v4.5.8.7128

Rufus v4.4

ImageUSB v1.5.1006

Security - AntiVirus

ESET Online Scanner v3.5.6

McAfee Stinger v13.0.0.19

Security - KeyFinders

ShowKeyPlus v1.0.7060

Security - Passwords

Lazesoft Password Recovery v4.7

NT Password Edit v0.7

Windows Login Unlocker v2.1

System Tools

CPU-Z v2.09

GPU-Z v2.57

HWInfo v7.68-5300

Speccy v1.32.803

WinNTSetup v5.3.3

Attribute Changer v11.0

Change Keyboard Layout v1.0.0

Dependency Walker v2.2.6

Registry Backup v4.0.0

Regshot v2.0.1.70

SysInternals Suite

PowerShell Core v7.4.1

Aqua Key Test

ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver v2.0.9

Total Commander v11.02

Network

Aero Admin v4.7

Google Chrome v121.0.6167.185

Mozilla Firefox Quantum ESR v115.3.1esr

PENetwork v0.59.0.B12

Anydesk 7.1.13

WinSCP v6.1.2

Putty v0.80

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/

Two CD/DVD Burning Programs.

 Here are two CD/DVD burning programs, if anyone still burns CD/DVDs. I still do now and then, but not like I used too. When I bought my first CD burner (DVDs wasn't around yet), it cost me $1,500 and would burn at 2X. Also, CDs back then cost $10.00 a pop and held 650 MBs. but then did go up to 700 MBs. Back then you just go to your local store and pick up CDs, you had to order them.

Back then I was burning other people's "stuff" they were saving to CDs for $100 a pop. Of course, as the price on burners came down and CD/DVD burners came out, it finally got to the point I gave it up. Also, back then I was running a BBS which I had 20 CD drives hooked up to it so people could download shareware programs, pictures, etc. I still have the three 6-disk Pioneer changers in the attic.

I also used a lot of Zip-drives, and tape drives for backing thing up. I also still have one tape drive here somewhere. Then when BIG internal/external hard drive came on the market pretty much everything else kind of went south.

Now everyone is using a cloud to store everything, but I don't. The only thing I use the cloud for is if I want to share something that is a pretty big file size. Everything I keep or backup, I do it on my own drives, that's because the cloud there is no guarantee that when you want to access your stuff, it will be there.

I read a number of times were people bought movies from Netflix and Netflix ended up pulling the movie for one reason or another. Then I just read the other day where people couldn't access their stuff on OneDrive. People had photo library's, programs, movies, backups, etc., and they had no access to there stuff. If you want to use the cloud, that's fine, I stick to my own external hard drive.

Even large hard drives have a drawback compared to CD/DVDs, that's the fact if it crashes, you lose everything, where as a CD/DVD, you can burn it, put it in its case and store it away in a safe place. At least if a CD/DVD gets scratched and won't load or something, at least you didn't lose all your stuff. Things I consider important or want to keep, I'd make a backup CD/DVD just in case.

ImgBurn

ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!

It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:

Read - Read a disc to an image file

Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc

Write - Write an image file to a disc

Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct

Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing

ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CCD, CDI, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI.

It can burn Audio CD's from any file type supported via DirectShow / ACM - including AAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA and WV.

You can use it to build DVD Video discs (from a VIDEO_TS folder), HD DVD Video discs (from a HVDVD_TS folder) and Blu-ray Video discs (from a BDAV / BDMV folder) with ease.

It supports Unicode folder/file names, so you shouldn't run in to any problems if you're using an international character set.

ImgBurn supports all the Microsoft Windows OS's - Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 (including all the 64-bit versions). If you use Wine, it should also run on Linux and other x86-based Unixes.

It's a very flexible application with several advanced features that are often lacking in other tools, especially when it comes to burning DVD Video discs. It supports all the latest drives without the need for updates (including booktype / bitsetting / advanced settings on many of the major ones - i.e. BenQ, LiteOn, LG, NEC, Optiarc, Pioneer, Plextor, Samsung, Sony).

There is an image queue system for when you're burning several images (which you can automatically share between multiple drives if you have more than one) and an easy-to-use layer break selection screen for double layer DVD Video jobs. The Automatic Write Speed feature allows you store your favourite burn speed settings on a per 'Media ID' basis, right down to a drive by drive level. Data captured during the burn (write speed, buffer levels etc) can be displayed / analysed using DVDInfoPro.

Whilst ImgBurn is designed to work perfectly straight out of the box, advanced users will appreciate just how configurable it is.

Oh and let's not forget the best thing about it.... it's 100% FREE ;-)

https://www.imgburn.com/

CDBurnerXP

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free.

Key Features:

burn all kinds of discs

audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks

burn and create ISO files

data verification after burning process

create bootable discs

multi-language interface

bin/nrg → ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!

Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista/2008 Server/Win7/Win8/2012 Server/Win10 (x86 / x64)

https://www.cdburnerxp.se/en/home

To-scale Size comparison of Planets in our Solar System

 

To-scale Size comparison of Planets in our Solar System

Pazera Free Audio Extractor

 Pazera Free Audio Extractor

Description:

Pazera Free Audio Extractor is a universal audio converter. The program allows extraction of audio tracks from audio and video files without loss of sound quality or conversion to MP3, AAC, AC3, E-AC3, Ogg-Opus, Ogg-Vorbis, WMA, FLAC, M4A-AAC, M4A-ALAC, WV (WavPack), MKA-Opus, CAF-Opus, AIFF or WAV.

To convert audio streams to MP3 the application uses the latest version of the LAME encoder. The program supports encoding with a constant bit rate – CBR, average bitrate – ABR and variable bit rate – VBR (based on LAME presets).

The application supports over 70 audio and video formats, including AVI, MP3, FLV, MP4, MKV, MPG, MOV, RM, 3GP, WMV, WebM, VOB, FLAC, AAC, M4A.

In addition, the program allows you to split input files based on chapters (often found in audiobooks).

The program has a number of predefined settings (profiles) specially designed for novice users. More advanced users can customize audio encoding parameters used by encoder: audio bitrate, sampling frequency, audio channels, audio volume and other. The application allows to extract/convert full audio track or selected range only.

At default settings, the application automatically selects all encoding parameters to maintain the original sound quality.

The Pazera Free Audio Extractor interface is very simple and user-friendly. To convert audio files or extract audio tracks from video files, just drag & drop them into main window, select proper profile from list, and click the Convert button. If the audio quality is poor, increase audio bitrate.

https://www.pazera-software.com/products/audio-extractor

Talking About Ford's.

 

1930 Ford Model-A

I enjoy learning about the history of the Ford Motor Company.

I recently discovered this little-known fact while studying the Ford archives:

In 1946, four brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max Goldberg, walked into Henry Ford's

office telling him they had the most exciting innovation in the industry since the electric starter.

Henry was curious so they persuaded him to sit in a car, which was at about 130 degrees. They

turned on their new invention, an air conditioner, which cooled the car off immediately.

Henry got very excited, offering them $4 million for the patent. The brothers refused, asking only

$2 million, but they wanted 'Goldberg Air Conditioner' printed on the dash of each car.

Now there was no way Henry was going to put the Goldberg name on two million Fords,

so they finally agreed on $3 million and just their first names would be shown.

To this day, all Ford air conditioners display their names: Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max.

Free Video Cutter Joiner

 I use a number of video cutters/joiners or at least try them out. Although I have this on my computer, I don't think I actually used it much if at all. Anyways, if you want, you can try it out. While you are at the3 website, there are a few other programs there that you might like to grab and try out.

The easiest video cutter joiner software can cut large video file and remove unwanted parts like commercials, outtakes and trailers. Free Video Cutter Joiner works well with many file formats like AVI, MPEG, MP4, WMV, 3GP, FLV,etc.

Windows 11/10/8/7

Latest update: November 5, 2025

Key Features:

Supporting any audio and video formats including AVI, MP4, FLV, WMV, MOV, VOB, 3GP etc

Free Video Cutter Joiner also can join serval video files into MP4,AVI,FLV, WMV, MOV, VOB, MPG format etc.

Free Video Cutter Joiner is comfortable video cutting software for lossless video cutting

Speed of cutting video is quite fast.

https://www.dvdvideomedia.com/index.html

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

 Here's a program I use now and then that works pretty good, "Auslogics Duplicate File Finder". I will say though, if you get this program, try and get version 10. If I remember correctly, I updated to the latest version and they made changes where it won't scan video files unless you use the paid version. I'm not real sure of that being after I installed the latest version, I thought it was that way, so I went back to version 10.

If I'm right, and the newer version doesn't scan everything shown in the boxes in the picture below, you can post a request in the comments, and I'll post a link where you can download version 10.

I'm not really big on buying software, why? First, I don't like buying software you only use once in a great while. Secondly, buying software is kind of a rip-off. So, you run into a program you really like and decide to buy it, that's fine. Then maybe you get an upgrade or so for free in thew next two or three months. Then on the fourth month they do a big upgrade, and they want you to pay for the software again to get the big upgrade. Thanks, but no thanks.

https://www.auslogics.com/en/software/duplicate-file-finder/#compare

More free space on your PC drives!

The easiest way to sort through images, music, videos and other personal files, to remove duplicate copies and free up disk space.

Scan most drive types for duplicates

With Duplicate File Finder, you can connect removable drives to your computer and easily delete duplicate files from them in a few clicks. Check USB drives, SD/flash cards, portabDuplicate File Finderle hard drives and more. Many of these drives may be small in size, so clearing space on them is especially important when you want to keep using the drive for saving data.

Empty Folder and Files Finder

 Empty folders are annoying, but not often a cause for great concern. Still, they build up over time, and find empty folders or zero size files are a smart and fast solution. The program ask for the location to look for empty folders and files.

Find Empty Files and Folder will take a while to scan an entire drive. When finished, it coughs up a folder and files list, a feature accessible from the context menu. Once you have your list ready to go, hit the Delete button at the top and watch the extinction scroll past. Folders that couldn't be deleted might contain hidden files or be connected to a program that relies on them.

https://www.ashisoft.com/find-empty-folders.htm

Who Likes Free Software?

 I like free software! Almost every program on my computer is "free software". As for the first post is a program called "EditPad Lite". I don't use this program a lot, but it comes in handy at times when I can't do something I want to do with Notepad.

You might find any of the programs I post more useful than me being most of the software I use I only use the basics of the program. The only time I really dig deeper into a program is if I need to try and do some that I haven't done before and try and find a way to do it.

https://www.editpadlite.com/cgi-bin/version.pl?ver=860&lang=en

1-Star, 2-Stars, 3-Stars?

 When you buy a product online, you look at the stars it got? Well, just don't look at the stars, but also read the low star reviews, most are stupid. 

A lot of low star reviews has nothing really to do with the product, but rather the person is just stupid or they didn't really read what they were ordering. One that really comes to mind is the lady who bought a sweep (the same kind we have), but she gave it a 1-star, why? Because she didn't think the cord was long enough. She couldn't reach every room without unplugging it and plugging it in another room. Duh!

Sometimes a low star score is called for, but a lot isn't. I guess you have to face it though, sometimes people order something and end up with a lemon. No matter what it is, a company could sell thousands of its products, and some people will get a bad one for whatever reason.

People buy things and say it works good and never had a problem with it, yet someone will come along and say they have the same item and it has been nothing but trouble since day one.

Usually when I buy an item and look at the reviews, I like to start with the 1-star or lowest and work my way up to the 5-stars to see what simple things people have to say.

Picked Up My Vevor Electric Chainsaw Sharpener Today

 After getting it home and unboxing it, the fun really began. As with a lot of other things these days, the instruction booklet kind of sucked. black & white pictures that was hard to see and understand. :-(

In the end, I looked it up on YouTube to see how the motor mounted on the base. Also, on YouTube I see two videos that were wrong for changing the grinding wheel. The two videos I see showed them removing the plastic guard to put on, or change the grinding wheel which is wrong.

All you needed to do was loosen one screw and the center of the guard will swing out of the way. You can then put an Allen wrench on the end of the arbor to loosen the bolt that holds the wheel in place. If you look at the shaft while turning it, you will see a hole where you can insert a nail or something to hold the shaft while you loosen/tighten the Allen bolt. Of course, not knowing, I followed what they showed on the YouTube video, removing the whole guard.

I figured after removing the guard there has to be a way to lock the shaft to remove the Allen bolt and change the grinding wheel, that's when I seen the hole in the shaft. So, the next time I'll know.

I didn't use the sharpener yet, but I did mount it on a board and turned it on to make sure the grinding wheel was turning true. I seen were some grinders had some wobble in the grinding wheel, it's not the wheel, but rather something to do with the shaft or something. I guess there is a way to correct that problem, but mine was turning true and straight.

I probably won't be using it until spring or summer, but I'll have it for when I need it. Then the fun will start getting everything set correctly....

Been Busy

 Finally got all the Christmas stuff taken down and put away. Of course, the bad things about taking them down is the fact it's usually cold outside and it was this year also.

So, everything came down and all the Christmas and Halloween decorations went in the new shed. The Christmas stuff at one end and the Halloween stuff at the other end. It took up a good bit of room though if I need more room, I could take a few things apart and put in tubs. Things like deer, 5- or 6-foot-tall things etc., etc. But for now, there is more than enough room until I end up buying new stuff next year. Anyways, that's all done.

Let's see, I did buy a hamburger press to make my own hamburgers. The one I would have liked to have gotten was about $100 so I went with the cheaper one which is good enough being I'm not planning to make 20 hamburgers at a time. So, will see how it goes when I pick up some hamburger this week.

Cuisinart CABP-300 Adjustable Burger Press, Makes 1/4 lb to 3/4 lb Patties

Adjust the thickness to your liking with the Cuisinart Adjustable Burger Press! Add your ground meat and press down to make a perfectly packed burger patty. Turn the dial to adjust the thickness of your burger! Its durable cast aluminum material is non-stick and easy to clean. Line with wax paper or plastic wrap for an easy transition from creating your burgers to placing them on the grill or in the freezer for later enjoyment. All burgers will be 4 ½” in diameter. Burger Thickness depends on the amount of meat used: 1/4 pound = 1/2” thick burger patty, 1/3 pound = 3/4” thick burger patty,1/2 pound = 1” thick burger patty, 3/4 pound = 1 1/4” thick burger patty.

Also got a new cover for the gas-powered log splitter. As of now it's covered with one of those blue tarps which so far hung onto it and hasn't blown off. The worst part about the blue tarps beside being cheap, they are kind of hard getting to cover and held down on a weird, shaped object. Anyways... I got it on with bungie cords and so far its staying in place. I'll probably put the cover on this Thursday.

Universal Dimension – Porch Shield waterproof log splitter cover is for 15-45 ton log splitters, with dimensions 95"L x 50"W x 50"H to fit most gas / electric log splitter brands.

Premium Material – Made of heavy-duty polyester to protect against rain, sand, snow, dust, and other harsh conditions, with a reinforced tarpaulin (weighting up to 9.5 pounds) at the front, significantly reducing the risk of tearing.

Stable Windproof – Designed with an elastic hem at the bottom for a snug fit and matched with 3 windproof buckle straps at the bottom and back to prevent the electric log splitter cover from being blown away.

Large Air Vent – The air vent on the log splitter cover allows for airflow and reduces internal condensation.

Quick Installation – Slip the tarpaulin cover over the front of the log splitter, then pull the cover backward and wrap it up. The elastic cord will quickly adjust it to a snug fit. No excessive adjustment is needed.

The last thing I got was an electric chainsaw sharpener. I use a file and guide which works ok, but it's not the best it's kind of loose where things go together so it's not perfect, but it does help when the chain needs touched up. I went to pick up the electric chainsaw sharpener today but as my luck would have it, they didn't have one, so I had to order it.

VEVOR Electric Chainsaw Sharpener, 230w Professional Multi-angle Adjustable Chain Grinder 3000-RPM, Electric Chainsaw Blade Sharpener For 1/4 To 2/5 Chains

Firm & Sturdy Aluminum Chainsaw Chain Sharpener: This kind of chainsaw chain grinder is made of sturdy aluminum material, which improves its strength and performance; With working light and anti-slid handle, you can get excellent protection while using it; You can use it to polish chains of 1/4", 3/8" Low Pro, 0.325", 3/8", and 0.404" pitch at home or in your working fields;; [Package Content] 1 x Chainsaw Chain Sharpener

Powered by a 3000 RPM constant commercial motor; Made of sturdy and firm aluminum material

Working Lamp & Safety Handle; Firm Vise for Holding Chains, Adjustable angle: 35 degrees left to right

5.5" large grinding wheels; Applicable for chains of 1/4", 3/8" Low Pro, 0.325", 3/8", and 0.404" pitch

STURDY ALUMINUM MATERIAL- This kind of chainsaw sharpener is made of high-quality aluminum material, which gives it the qualities of anti-ruse and scratch-proof; Moreover, the aluminum structure improves its strength and performance;

WORKING LIGHT & PROTECTION- There is a working light mounted on the chain sharpener chainsaw for lighting while you are using it in a dark place; The anti-slid handle also helps hold the machine tightly for protection;

3000 RPM MOTOR- The motor of the chainsaw chain sharpener is a commercial motor of 3000 RPM; It will make sure that your chains will not be burned or soften mistakenly;

TILTING VISE & GRINDING WHEELS- The tilting vise on the chainsaw sharpeners are suitable for semi-chisel & chisel style cutters; And the 5.5" large grinding wheels can help you sharpen the chain more efficiently;

WIDE APPLICATION- The chainsaw electric sharpener is widely used in your house or your working fields to polish and sharpen your items; The angle can be adjusted for your needs; It is applicable for chains of 1/4", 0.325", 3/8", and 0.404" pitch;

Specification: Material: Aluminum; Voltage: 110V±15%, 60Hz; Power: 230 W(Peak 350 W); Maximum speed: 3000 RPM; Weight: 12.8 lbs; Noise level: ≤85dB(A); Grinding Diameter: 5.5"/13.97 cm; Arbor Size: 0.875"; Protection: IP20; Sharpens chain pitch: 1/4", 3/8" Low Pro, 0.325", 3/8", 0.404"

Happy New Year.... Cleaning Out Old Hard Drive

 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!