Showing archive results for 2014

Jun 11, 2014
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Why do network servers sometimes show up as a Recycle Bin Location?

Raymond Chen

A customer wanted to know why some of their users showed network servers among the locations shown in the Recycle Bin property sheet. Answer: Because those users are using Folder Redirection. In particular, if you redirect the My Documents folder, then a network Recycle Bin location is created to hold the files deleted from My Documents. The Re...

Tips/Support
Jun 10, 2014
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Microspeak: Brownbag

Raymond Chen

Remember, Microspeak is not merely for jargon exclusive to Microsoft, but it's jargon that you need to know. The term brownbag (always one word, accent on the first syllable) refers to a presentation given during lunch. The attendees are expected to bring their lunch to the meeting room and eat while they listen to the presentation. A brownbag co...

Non-ComputerMicrospeak
Jun 9, 2014
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Improving the performance of CF_HDROP by providing file attribute information

Raymond Chen

The clipboard format is still quite popular, despite its limitation of being limited to files. You can't use it to represent virtual content, for example. For all of you still using , you can improve the performance of drag/drop operations by adding a little more information to your data object. Observe that the clipboard format is just a l...

Code
Jun 5, 2014
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Closing over the loop variable is just as harmful in JavaScript as it is in C#, and more cumbersome to fix

Raymond Chen

Prerequisite reading: Closing over the loop variable considered harmful. JavaScript has the same problem. Consider: The most common case where you encounter this is when you are hooking up event handlers in a loop, so that's the case I used as an example. No matter which button you click, they all alert , rather than the respective button ...

Code
Jun 4, 2014
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Why did it take so long for Windows to support a taskbar on more than one monitor?

Raymond Chen

Mark wants to know why Windows has never supported having a taskbar on more than one monitor. (The question was asked before Windows 8 multi-monitor taskbar support became publically-known.) The feature has always been on the list, but it's a long list, and specifically the cost of designing, implementing, testing, performing usability test...

Other
Jun 3, 2014
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As long as your file names meet operating system requirements, you can use whatever you like; the rest is up to you

Raymond Chen

A customer had a question about the MSDN documentation on rules for legal file names: My employees keep naming documents with hyphens in the name. For example, they might name a file . It is my position that hyphens should not be used in this way, and the document should be named . Please advise on the use of hyphens within file names. Hyphens ...

Other
Jun 2, 2014
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Obtaining information about the user's wallpaper on multiple monitors

Raymond Chen

Today we're going to dump information about the user's wallpaper settings on multiple monitors. The idea is simple. You use the interface on the object to get information about the desktop wallpaper. It will tell you the wallpaper positioning information, whether a single image is being used for all monitors, where those monitors are, and whic...

Code
May 30, 2014
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Why does GetFileVersionInfo map the whole image into memory instead of just parsing out the pieces it needs?

Raymond Chen

Commenter acq responds (with expletive deleted), "the whole file is mapped into the process' memory only for version info that's certainly only a few kilobytes to be read?" Why not map only the parts that are needed? "I don't understand the necessity to map the whole file except that it was easier to write that code without thinking too much." Tha...

Code
May 29, 2014
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Get your hex wrench ready, because here comes the Ikea bicycle

Raymond Chen

Ikea säljer elcyklar. Click through for two-image slide show. Ikea selling electric bicycles Forget furniture. Ikea is now launching, that's right, an electric bicycle. It goes under the name People-Friendly and costs around 6000 SEK ($900 USD). But only in Älmhult, Småland. People-Friendly has already received three des...

Non-Computer