Level Up - Windows 8: How to Create a Batch File

Batch (*.bat) files are useful because they allow you to save and reuse commands for the command prompt (or CLI, command-line interface). Also, it is easier to send multiple commands at once, fix typos, and edit the commands.

Batch files are available for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Any command that you can put in the CLI, you should be able to put into the BAT file.


Method 1:
- Right-click on your desktop (or in File Explorer), and select New->Text Document. Now, rename the file to something ending with .bat.


Method 2:
- Open Notepad, then when you save the file, make sure to end it with ".bat".

Saving a Batch file requires a .bat ending.

Test the Batch file:
Now that you have the BAT file, you can easily test that it works by putting in the following code, then double-click to run the file.

echo Hello, World!

Here's some more things you can try out: Windows Command Prompt Cheat Sheet


Note: If method 1 didn't work for you, then try method 2.

~ Danial Goodwin ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Developer Blog

My Migration from Dual-Boot Win7/Win8 to only Windows 8

1. Meticulously back up data
2. Download full Windows 8.1 iso to burn to disk
3. Refresh myself on how to factory restore and install new operating system (OS)
4. Factory restore computer
4. Popped in the Win 8.1 disc and with that I deleted all the partitions before installing 8.1. This was a really great experience! It was very fast. Also, the start-up process for Windows 8.1 from nothing was tremendously faster than what I was expecting. Got Windows 8.1 installed
4.1. During the setup process, I also created two addition 50GB partitions separate from Win8 so that I could experiment with different OSes with ease.
5. During setup I logged in with my MS account, and in the Start screen I noticed that my setup was saved from my old Win8 setup. Even the desktop wallpaper carried over! And the position of the Taskbar vertical on the left side.
6. Bug found. During the entire setup/install process, I had my second monitor plugged in. Now, the OS only recognizes the second monitor. I hope a restart without the second monitor plugged in will fix this. (Update: Yes, restarting fixed this problem)
7. Went through all of the Windows settings and personalized it to my liking.
8. Used Internet Explorer to install Google Chrome (plus Java plugin).
9. Add my important files from before the wipe.
10. Install programs

• Common Tools
• Notepad++ (with ZenCoding plugin and Compare plugin)
• Paint.NET (with Photoshop plugin)
• VLC Media Player
• Microsoft Office
• Adobe (unfortunately) and/vs Foxit
• Specialized Tools
• AutoHotKey (for creating macros)
• FileZilla (for FTP)
• Audacity (for music editing)
• 7-Zip
• Git
• Inkscape (for editing vector files)
• Skitch (for quick screenshots with overlays and fast getting a link to share)
• Putty
• WinSCP
• App Building Programs
• Android + Eclipse + Java SE Development Kit (JDK)
• Visual Studio 2012 + 2013 + Azure
• Construct 2
• Others
• Dropbox
• Programs NOT installed this time
• iTunes (mainly because I haven't used it in awhile and Apple installs way too many separate things along with it)

11. Fixed bug where everything seemed blurry. Windows required a graphics card driver update and a restart. There was no need to limit DPI scaling anywhere.
12. Set keyboard shortcuts

• Ctrl + Alt + c = Calculator
• Ctrl + Alt + p  = Paint
• Ctrl + Alt + Shift + P  = Paint.NET
• Ctrl + Alt + n  = Notepad (Very rarely used)
• Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N  = Notepad++
• Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F  = FileZilla

13. Reassign file types. E.g. Make sure TXT and XML files open with Notepad++. Here's a Windows Command Line Prompt Cheat Sheet.

And, now I finally have a brand new clean system that I can work efficiently on. Later I will be customizing each of my programs again, to my liking.

It could have been worse. But, there still has got to be a better way of doing all of this...

There's about 100GB of programs and data I've added to this computer that I need for my different work/projects. And, that doesn't even include any of my music, videos, pictures, or 35 extra gigabytes of data from Db which I will be downloading tonight, or maybe not this time. Also, these programs I've installed in the beginning are just most of the ones that I have used in the past month and will need to use within the next month.

• About 7.5 GB of program installers in my Downloads folder
• About 1.0 GB of data on my Desktop
• About 0.3 GB of data in my Documents folder
• About 43 GB of data in my Developer folder

That's about 52 GB of data out of ~95 GB memory used. So, 43 GB used for programs.

~ Danial Goodwin ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Developer Blog

Terrible User Experience - There's Only One Major Application I Know That Does This

Perhaps the most terrible example of all user experience (UX) an application/program can give to users, is to shut down the program when the user is in the middle of working. Case study: Windows. I just got auto-updated.

In Windows 7, there is a small window that pops up that says the computer will restart in 15 minutes, in order to install updates. After that message is postponed, it doesn't pop up in the front any more. In my multiple monitor setup, I don't always pay attention to all of them. There is just typically one main monitor I work with. My current work involved having about 20 tabs in a browser open and a few more large RAM-hungry application, so I didn't want to have to re-setup my workspace. So, I was able to postpone the auto-update a few times. But, when I was really into my work on one monitor, the auto-shut-down prompt I assume was ominously counting down on my other monitor, behind everything. In the middle of typing, sudden the document disappears. There goes all the work (if I was working in a program without autosave).

I am a UX designer and have many recommendations to improve this "feature" in Windows 7. I'm glad my biggest recommendation is taken care of in Windows 8: Make the death prompt more visible. Just having that one change would save me from more trouble.

I understand where Microsoft and other companies are coming from. They want to make sure that updates are installed so that users are protected from even worse virus/malware attacks. I'm sure they've done their research to learn that many people unfortunately don't install the updates in a timely manner, if at all. So, in order to protect users from worse troubles, Microsoft has by default decided to be more aggressive in getting the updates installed.
I had to throw in that "by default" in the last sentence because I know there is the option to disable all automatic updates. But, good UX and good customer service wouldn't put the blame on the user/customer. If the user does something "wrong", then it is only because the application allowed the user to do so.

Bonus: Here's a copywriting tip: Never have long chunks of words/paragraphs.

~ Danial Goodwin ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Developer Blog

Microsoft's App Studio

Today, I wrote two blog posts regarding a new product from Microsoft that allows anybody to easily and quickly create and publish Windows Phone apps.

Learn about it: What Is Microsoft’s App Studio?

Learn more about it: How To Edit App Studio Code

~ Simply Advanced ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Developer Blog

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

Have you all heard about the scientific 7 minute workout yet?

On LifeHacker
In The New York Times

Here's a link to a timer to make things even easier for you: http://7-min.com/


~ Simply Advanced ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog

Can't USB Connect to Device Through Eclipse?

At first, I couldn't connect to a Nexus 7 or HTC Evo LTE in Eclipse. Windows 7 could see both of the devices, but Eclipse for some unknown reason would not detect them so that I could debug the Android apps.

Solution: Update Eclipse to the newest version and also update the Android SDK in the Android SDK Manager. You can update Eclipse and the ADT plugin by going to Help -> Check for Updates.

If your computer doesn't have the drivers for the devices, then you should download them from the manufacturer's (OEM) website. One starting point would be http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/oem-usb.html to help point you on your way.

Asus Nexus 7 Driver: http://www.asus.com/Tablet_Mobile/Nexus_7/#support_Download_32 (then click USB)

~ Simply Advanced ~

PS - This is assuming that the device is already properly set up in proper developer debugging mode.

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog

Where Windows 7 Sticky Notes Are Saved, Stored

Avid readers of this blog (me!) will know that I like Windows 7's Sticky Notes. It works and it's quick. There are many Sticky Notes shortcuts that most people don't know about also, which I wrote a blog post on a while back.

Now, another thing I wanted to discover was, "Where are Windows 7 Sticky Notes Saved?" The answer follows.

C:\Users\Dan2012\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes

Just change Dan2012 with your own username and you will find a SNT file that can be read for the most part with Notepad++. I didn't check any other text editors.

~ Simply Advanced ~

PS - I hear that Windows Vista Sticky Notes are also stored in the same place.

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog

How to Completely Cancel All Print Jobs

This method works for at least Windows 7 (and Windows Vista). The following method is the hardcore way of restarting the print spooler if you are having trouble cancelling a print job.

In order to see how what jobs are in the print queue, open Start, then type/search for printer and press Enter. "Devices and Printers" should now be on your screen. It can also be found through the Control Panel.

How to Completely Cancel All Print Jobs (the easy and foolproof method):

1. Open Start (shortcut: press the Windows key)
2. Type/search for "services", then press Enter
3. In the names, look for "Print Spooler", then Right-Click->Restart

You are done. Though, you may have to close and reopen the document queue in order to see the changes.

The harder method is to navigate through Control Panel->System->Administrative Tools->Services.

This is the only method that you need to know in order to completely cancel all print jobs. If you would like to know more ways of deleting print jobs, then don't hesitate in contacting me. =]

~ Simply Advanced ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog

Windows 8 on a Mac

When people want Windows OS on a Mac they may think of dual booting or using a program like VMWare, VirtualBox, BootCamp, or Parallels to run the two simultaneously.

But, my roommate (Spence) and I experimented with another method to run Windows 7 and 8 on a Mac. We would replace the Mac's harddrive with the harddrive running Windows OS. Both were 2.5 inch.

What got us thinking on this track was that, first of all, the Mac wouldn't boot after being dropped. Us being computer savvy individuals, we didn't have another Mac lying around, but we did have an older Lenovo laptop that we thought we could possibly salvage parts from.

We took out the Mac harddrive, took out the Lenovo harddrive with Windows 7 and 8 dual booted, and swapped them. The process took less than ten minutes to figure out and complete.

The results?
Windows 8 runs beautifully on a 2009 aluminum uni-body Mac. Both Modern UI and desktop versions supported. And we were surprised that the Wi-Fi was easily connected to without installing any additional drivers.

The problems?
Initially, the trackpad only partially works (movement only, no clicking), but an external mouse does work flawlessly. Clicking and multitouch were added by installing the proper drivers for them. There may be a few more issues, but this is just a preliminary rundown of our experimental harddrive organ transplant.

If you also do a harddrive transplant, let us know! You can download some of Apple's drivers [at your own risk] from http://www.2shared.com/complete/J5_Inbmt/Apple_folder_from_Boot_Camp_Wi.html.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog

MemorizePi - 153 Digits

With the help of my personally create MemorizePi app for WP7 I have successfully memorized 153 digits of pi!

~ Simply Advanced ~

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My Android Apps | My Windows Phone Apps | My Computer/Programming Blog