MS Access and VB Programming
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Dev Ashish's Access Web Page
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Probably the best Access resource around. FAQs, code, utilities, add-ins and lots of tips,
plus a comprehensive set of links to other resources on Access.
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VBnet Visual Basic Developers Resource Centre
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Enhanced functionality using the win32 api for
intermediate and advanced visual basic developers using 'VBClassic'
(not VB.NET). If you need to call something using the win32 API, it's probably here.
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Allen Browne's tips for Access users
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A great set of tips for Access users, especially the
Tips for Serious Users and the
Pop-up Calendar.
We are especially grateful to Allen
for his assistance in helping us upgrade from Access 97 to 2003.
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Access-Freak.com
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Oliver Stohr's Access-Freak.com site looks at Access 2007 versus Access 2003.
Oliver (a.k.a. freakazeud) is a Microsoft MVP and was a Microsoft® Office 2007 BETA tester.
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Tips from the FMS Team
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A mixture of Access, VB, and other tricks and tips.
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ADO Connections
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Carl Prothman's collection of ADO and ADO.NET connection strings.
Samples for OLE DB Providers, .NET Data Providers,
and ODBC Drivers, both DSN and DSN-Less.
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Trigeminal Software
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Michael Kaplan's site with utilities, components and tools. His articles and musings
are worthwhile reading. Includes free code to recover the database
password from any Jet 3.x/3.5x database.
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Jenda Krynicky's Regex Control
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If you want to use Regular expressions (Regex) in your VBA code or use a
better interface than the messy Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions object,
try using Jenda Krynicky's Jenda.Rex
Active-X DLL.
Lots of other useful utilities, especially for Perl programmers.
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FreeWheel mouse wheel support
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Does your wheel mouse not work in VB or VBA? You've tried downloading the latest
Intellipoint software and it still doesn't work?
Try installing Jim Barry's FreeWheel software.
Works on both Windows 9X and NT+.
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Microsoft Naming Conventions
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A concise guide to naming conventions plus tips on formatting and commenting your code.
Uses our preferred shorter naming convention for variable names: sName instead of strName.
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Microsoft Access Free Downloads
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Downloads for Access and other Microsoft Office products.
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Perl and Web Programming
Web Site Construction
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Web Design Group
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This must be the best free resource on web design on the net.
Full HTML help and reference, free
HTML Validator and
cascading style sheet checker,
web authoring references, tools, style guides, FAQ, links, ...
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Hosting your own web page
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We use the services of Philex Enterprises to host our site.
We've used them since 1999 without a problem.
They are very helpful and are not paying us a thing
for this free plug. Check them out.
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A cr*p domain name registrar
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We used to register our .com.au and other names with Melbourne IT, who were the original
registrar in Australia. However they are now very expensive compared to others,
their systems don't work properly (we got overcharged and they wouldn't refund),
their customer service is sh*t, and their general attitude to customers is arrogant and rude.
Don't touch Melbourne IT with a barge pole.
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Useful Utilities
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FRHED free hex editor for 32-bit Windows
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If you do any work with binary files you need a good hex editor.
Raihan Kibria's FRHED free hex editor is brilliant.
Very well constructed with options to work in hexadecimal, text or binary mode.
An excellent piece of freeware.
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Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
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We now use the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) to package and distribute all updates to our clients.
Reckon on taking three or four hours to figure out how to use it. (Hint: work through the examples they provide, starting
with the simplest.) Then it's just a dream to use.
NSIS is a tool that allows programmers to create installers for all variants of Windows.
It is released under an open source license and is completely free for any use. Highly recommended.
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Dimension 4 time synchronisation utility
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Fed up with your computer's clock always being wrong?
Want it to be synchronised with the US Navy's atomic clock?
Install Rob Chambers'
Dimension 4 time synchronisation software onto your Windows 95/98/NT/2K/XP computer.
Inobtrusive, accurate and free to non-commercial users.
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Skype
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Skype is free Internet telephony that just works.
Skype is for calling other people on their computers or phones. We've even used it from a 45k dial-up connection.
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Computer Security
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Shields UP!
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Follow the
Shields UP! link to have Steve Gibson's excellent site check the security of
your computer's connection to the Internet. You'll get very paranoid and with good reason, too.
Lots of other good information on security and network issues.
See especially his page on
configuring your computer's network bindings
"the
single best thing you can do for your system's Internet connection security".
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Firefox browser
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We can't recommend installing the Firefox browser more highly.
Eliminates all the security hassles of Internet Explorer at a stroke.
Just install (it's free) and then delete all the obvious links to MSIE on your desktop.
Especialy useful if you have children use your machine.
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Magic Mail Monitor
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Magic Mail Monitor is a free utility that sits silently in your system tray and notifies you about new messages in one of your mailboxes.
You can preview messages and delete unwanted emails before they get onto your system.
Set your email client options NOT to download messages unless you
click on the Send/Receive button. (In Outlook Express, uncheck "Send & receive messages at startup" and "Check for new messages every...").
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Zone Alarm free personal firewall
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ZoneAlarm is probably the best software firewall available. The
"no-frills" version is free.
ZoneAlarm monitors any unauthorised outgoing connections from trojans
and spyware inside your computer.
(It also prevents Microsoft utilities "phoning home", which MS's firewall probably still forgets to tell you about)
ZoneAlarm is still highly recommended by
Steve Gibson.
We paid for the "Pro" version and upgrades which we were happy with until we required support,
which is pathetic.
When downloading, follow the links for the "Basic Firewall" carefully.
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AVG Anti-Virus system by Grisoft
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Grisoft offer a free version of their excellent AVG anti-virus software.
They put out frequent updates. We have installed this on a variety of Win32 operating
systems without any problems (which is more than we can say for McAfee or Norton).
Ironically the "protection" on their paid-for version makes paying for it more of a hassle than using the free version.
They also do a free Anti-Rootkit
product.
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Ad-Aware by Lavasoft
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Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility designed for all
Windows platforms.
It scans your system for components of known spyware parasites and lets you remove them safely.
If you are plagued with pop-ups, use this or Spybot Search & Destroy.
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Spybot Search & Destroy
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Spybot Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware. An alternative to Ad-Aware.
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Startup Monitor
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Startup Monitor is a small, free utility that runs transparently
(it doesn't even use a tray icon) and notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup.
It prevents annoying programs from registering themselves behind your back.
Teach your kids not to click on OK when they are surfing the web.
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SnoopFree Privacy Shield
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Prevents keyboard loggers and other spyware from monitoring your system.
Free and low impact, but annoying icon in the tray.
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HijackThis
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Free utilities including HijackThis, a general homepage hijackers detector and remover.
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CCleaner
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CCleaner is a freeware PC optimization tool.
It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner.
The underlying software appears reliable but be careful following links on their site that suggest you "may need a tune up".
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Windows Vista
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BadVista.org is a campaign
to expose the harms inflicted on computer users by Microsoft Windows Vista.
Respected security analyst Peter Gutmann looks at
A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection.
We think Vista is pretty poor and the perfect companion for the equally pathetic Office 2007,
a widely-shared view that Vista,
Office and Outlook 2007 are a Nightmare.
For a counter argument on Vista, see
Bob Cringely;
and for a counter-counter argument, Bob's latest prediction that Microsoft will acknowledge the failure of Vista and
indefinitely extend the life of Windows XP.
The Joy of Tech's cartoon sums up Vista perfectly.
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Save XP
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Sign
Galen Gruman's petition
to "Save XP".
Microsoft will end OEM and shrink-wrapped sales of Windows XP on 30 June 2008, forcing users to shift to Vista.
Don't let that happen!
Millions of users have grown comfortable with XP and don't see a need to change to Vista.
As of 9 May 2008, close to 200,000 people have signed the petition.
Please ask your friends, family and colleagues to join the movement by signing up at
www.savexp.com.
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Windows Networking
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World of Windows Networking
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J.Helmig's
World of Windows Networking is a wonderful collection of
articles and FAQ on Windows Networking.
It explains in detail how to trouble shoot networking problems in all variants of
Windows95 / 98 / ME / NT4 / 2000 / XP.
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OzCableGuy
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If you have a problem with your broadband ADSL or Cable internet connection, or need
to configure your network to work with it,
Darren Stribning's excellent site will have the answer. Well laid-out
with FAQs and complete 'how to' guides to set up your network and troubleshoot.
It includes how to cope with the Telstra Cable
'heartbeat' and how to set up a LinkSys router to work with it.
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