Copy paste no longer works after right clicking on certain files

This was a rather unique and painful experience. Right clicking on certain files would kill the ability to copy paste in Windows. After about a month of chasing down this bug, I finally found the cause for it.

Symptoms included:

• Loss of ability to copy anything to clipboard or paste from it
• Running "clipbrd.exe" would lock up the drawing process of "Clipboard Viewer"
• Restarting of "explorer.exe" would fix it, but its rather annoying
• Occurs after right clicking on certain files with characters such as [ ] ( ) - and _
• There are NO error messages! WHAT A CUNT!

Firstly, my problem was caused by having a Daemon Tools 3rd party app called arniWORX "awxDTools" (specificially v1.0.6.0). Its a great addition if you're still running Daemon Tools v3.x.

I'm not sure when the problem started, but it may have something to do with it being incompatible with Daemon Tools v4.30.4.0027.

Now, if you have it installed, you have two options. The first is the easy one, uninstall it. Its not working with Daemon Tools v4.x anyways, so doesn't matter if its gone.

Second option? Disable it from the context menu using ShellExView. Its an awesome little free tool that lets you see what DLLs are registered on your computer and disable them!

Download, run and sort by the "Type" column. Search for "Context Menu" then disable "awxDTShlExt Class".

No need to reboot or anything, now you can right click till your hearts content!

Dynamically loading Javascript files

The little snippet below lets you load JS files dynamically, making it easier to load jQuery or mootools for scripts like GreaseMonkey or within Firebug.

var jsfile = document.createElement("script");
jsfile.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript");
jsfile.setAttribute("src", "http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/mootools/1.2.2/mootools.js");
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(jsfile);

Using Firebug, I used the following mootools code to hide some elements as a test to see if the script actually loaded.

$each($$('.saveType, .perType'), function(item) {
  item.setStyle('display', 'none');
});

"Why would you do such a thing?"

Someone was hosting photos that he took himself and decided to take them down one day.

Strangely enough, he got an email from a "businessman" who was threatening legal action if he didn't put those images back because they affected his advertising.

Full story here.

If you're having trouble reading the images from the story, the direct links are easier to read.

1. I'm gonna get sued 1.gif
2. I'm gonna get sued 2.gif
3. I'm gonna get sued 3.gif

LOL stupid people... just hope you don't have to deal with them.

Firefox - Can't save pictures or files

Problems with computers are normally easy to solve... IF they have some sort of error message.

Otherwise, its a complete cunt. You have no idea what the problem is, what error to look for and also no idea if the solution will apply or not (because there aren't any symptoms!).

Well, for this one, my problem was:

• Right clicking on an image and selecting "Save Image As" will produce no dialog to let you select a location.
• Dragging the image itself to your desktop will save the file, but thats inconvenient.
• Your firefox download manager is empty.
• You have no extensions installed that will mess with your download manager.

So, the solution that worked for me is:

• Close Firefox.
• Find your Firefox profile folder.
  Need help? Look here. Normally its at "%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\" and the only folder there with random letters/numbers will be your profile.
• Inside your profile folder, there will be a file called "downloads.rdf". In Firefox 3, it has been renamed to "downloads.sqlite".
• Deleting (or moving) this file will fix the problem, but also wipe your downloads history clean.
• Restart Firefox and try saving a picture. Theoretically, it should work.

Windows Remote Desktop - Unable to log you on because of an account restriction

While trying to log onto a computer on my home network through remote desktop, I got a rather strange warning which I couldn't remember how to fix.

I know it had to do with the fact that I had no password for that account. By default, for security reasons, Windows XP does not allow users to log onto a computer remotely if there is no password set.

Luckily, there was a setting somewhere to change it.

1. Click on "Start", "Run" then "gpedit.msc"
2. Find your way through "Computer Configuration" » "Windows Settings" » "Security Settings" » "Local Policies" » "Security Options"
3. Double click on "Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only"
4. Select the "Disabled" radio button next and save the settings.

Try logging in again from a remote computer and it should work immediately, without the need for setting password.

Facebook Photo Upload keeps failing (fixed)

Every once in a while, FaceBook's photo uploader will constantly fail. Very rarely is it a server fault. Most of the time it would be due to my crappy Australian internet connectivity with the rest of the world.

But, if it happens over and over and restarting your browser/internet wont help, then your best bet would be to clear the Java application/applet cache.

Firstly, close Firefox/IE.

Then open up "Java" in your control panel.

In the "General" tab, click on "Settings ..." under "Temporary Internet Files". Click on the "Delete Files..." button to clear your applet cache.

Load the FaceBook "Add Photos" page and it should download the updated copy of Photo Uploader.

If it still doesn't work, wait a while and try again.

*update - 29/01/2010*

There's a new photo uploader plugin now that looks more like the Mac OS X explorer interface. It's nice, but it tries to install in 2 ways (for Firefox anyway).

• 1. Installs a Firefox plugin via a Java applet.
• 2. If the applet fails to load, Facebook provides a link to a 2mb installer file which installs the necessary plugins to your browsers. No restart necessary for Firefox.

It was tested a couple of weeks ago (WinXP) and it just didn't work for me. Now that its up again, its working nicely and is alot more responsive than the old photo uploader.

*update - 21/02/2010*

I tested it on Windows 7 and it failed. Damn!

I tried it again and it suddenly worked. No idea wtf happened.

Report any issues you're having to Facebook here to make sure they know about your problems.

*update - 06/04/2010*

If you're having crashing issues with the new photo uploader plugin, see here.

Internet Explorer stuck on "Loading Search Settings..."

Occasionally, I accidently press CTRL+E on the keyboard and display the "Search" Explorer Bar. The annoying little toolbar will freeze up my IE and just loop.

Worst thing is that it'll come back every time I load the browser, making it impossible to use anymore.

So, into the registry I go, hunting down the option to remove the toolbar!

Simply remove this registry key and all will be well.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser\ITBarLayout

Next time the browser will open, it shouldn't show that search bar anymore.