| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Looking for a way to make my PC "remember" open apps and files Thread poster: Katalin Horváth McClure
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Here is something I would like to do.
I am working on a job that requires me to have several applications open (Excel, Word, Trados and Star Transit) with multiple files open in each of these applications. These are previous translations I have done for the same company, and I need to refer to them for consistency. It would be much easier if all of these materials were done in one single CAT-tool, but this is not the case.
The files are located all over my harddisk, in different fold... See more Here is something I would like to do.
I am working on a job that requires me to have several applications open (Excel, Word, Trados and Star Transit) with multiple files open in each of these applications. These are previous translations I have done for the same company, and I need to refer to them for consistency. It would be much easier if all of these materials were done in one single CAT-tool, but this is not the case.
The files are located all over my harddisk, in different folders and subfolders.
The job is long, taking at least a week to finish.
I have to shut down my computer every night, at least for a few hours, because otherwise it tends to overheat.
Every day, when I start working on this project, it takes me forever to search and open all these apps and files within the apps I need to have everything in front of me.
I am wondering if there is a solution to this, perhaps a little application that I could use to take a snapshot of the entire system (let's call it the "remember") function, before I shut the computer down, and then when I boot up next time, or want to start working on that project, I could use the "recall" function that would open all those applications, open the files within them and place them on my screen (two screens, actually) where they were.
Does anyone know of a software that does it?
I am running Windows XP on a Toshiba notebook.
Thanks
Katalin
[Edited at 2007-09-07 17:46] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Using shortcuts? | Sep 7, 2007 |
There is probably a smarter, more sophisticated way to do this, but it occurs to me you could make a temporary folder and place in it a shortcut for each of the items you need.
| | | | Szilas Cseh
Serbia
Local time: 11:33
English to Hungarian
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| Windows XP built in hibernate function | Sep 7, 2007 |
The remember function that you are looking for is called Hibernation. Windows XP has it built in. Go to Control Panel-->Power Options.
There should be a tab there called "Hibernate".
Once you are there check the checkbox which enables hibernation.
The next time you try to shut down you computer via Start-->Shut Down etc... you should be able to hibernate your present workspace (It creates a snapshot of your present workspace and stores it in a memory). The next time you ... See more The remember function that you are looking for is called Hibernation. Windows XP has it built in. Go to Control Panel-->Power Options.
There should be a tab there called "Hibernate".
Once you are there check the checkbox which enables hibernation.
The next time you try to shut down you computer via Start-->Shut Down etc... you should be able to hibernate your present workspace (It creates a snapshot of your present workspace and stores it in a memory). The next time you turn your machine on you should have an option to restore your previous session.
(Now the reason why there is so much 'should' in the upper text is because I haven't used this function personally I have only seen it implemeted)
Cheers, I hope this helps... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Hibernate is turned off on my computer | Sep 7, 2007 |
Thank you for the suggestion about hibernation. On my computer, the Windows Power management is turned off entirely, instead I have Toshiba Power Management. I believe the computer came with this configuration.
Within Toshiba Power Management, there is a checkbox to enable hibernation, but it is disabled currently.
I remember a few years ago reading something about using this function, and on my particular computer model it was strongly discouraged (I can't recall the reason, but it ... See more Thank you for the suggestion about hibernation. On my computer, the Windows Power management is turned off entirely, instead I have Toshiba Power Management. I believe the computer came with this configuration.
Within Toshiba Power Management, there is a checkbox to enable hibernation, but it is disabled currently.
I remember a few years ago reading something about using this function, and on my particular computer model it was strongly discouraged (I can't recall the reason, but it was enough for me not to turn it on).
Perhaps I need to look into that again, but meanwhile, if I could find another 3rd party solution, that may be better.
Anybody has any other ideas? ▲ Collapse
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| Shortcuts won't speed it up much | Sep 7, 2007 |
GoodWords wrote:
There is probably a smarter, more sophisticated way to do this, but it occurs to me you could make a temporary folder and place in it a shortcut for each of the items you need.
Well, this would not help much as I would still need to click on every shortcut to force it open. (And there would be a lot.)
| | | | | Start-up folder | Sep 7, 2007 |
Put all your files and apps in there.
It is usually located at Start menu>All Programs>right-click Start-up and choose Browse (or Explore?).
Place shortcuts of whatever (files or apps) and let the thing do the job while you file your nails or have coffee.
When I turn on the computer in the morning, I have time to have coffee while DNS, IE, TO3000,Outlook, Password mgmt software, PowerDesk and whatever needed for the current assignment (SR32, Trados, TagEditor, Word, etc.... See more Put all your files and apps in there.
It is usually located at Start menu>All Programs>right-click Start-up and choose Browse (or Explore?).
Place shortcuts of whatever (files or apps) and let the thing do the job while you file your nails or have coffee.
When I turn on the computer in the morning, I have time to have coffee while DNS, IE, TO3000,Outlook, Password mgmt software, PowerDesk and whatever needed for the current assignment (SR32, Trados, TagEditor, Word, etc.) are loading.
Surprising that so few people use this feature.
Philippe
[Modifié le 2007-09-07 19:02] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 11:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Try AutoIt or AutoHotKey | Sep 7, 2007 |
Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:
I am wondering if there is a solution to this, perhaps a little application that I could use to take a snapshot of the entire system (let's call it the "remember") function, before I shut the computer down, and then when I boot up next time, or want to start working on that project, I could use the "recall" function that would open all those applications, open the files within them and place them on my screen (two screens, actually) where they were.
I don't know of such a program, but you can write a simple AutoHotKey script that launches certain programs, with 10 seconds inbetween launches, and then run this script at startup.
To illustrate how simple (and complicated) it can be, here's a script that opens three MS Word files and resizes them:
; Start of script
Run ('"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE" "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\One.doc"')
Sleep ("1000")
Run ('"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE" "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Two.doc"')
Sleep ("1000")
Run ('"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE" "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Three.doc"')
Sleep ("1000")
WinSetState ("One.doc", "", @SW_MAXIMIZE)
Sleep ("1000")
WinMove ("Two.doc", "", 100, 100, @DesktopWidth - 200, @DesktopHeight - 300)
Sleep ("1000")
WinMove ("Three.doc", "", 200, 200, @DesktopWidth - 400, @DesktopHeight - 500)
; End of script
| | | | Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Hungarian to English
+ ...
Hi Katalin,
Toshiba notebooks can be unreliable coming back after hibernation if there's a lot of stuff running - wireless doesn't always work, for example. But there's another option: "Suspend", which doesn't write the contents of RAM to the hard drive as hibernation does, but simply keeps supplying RAM with a trickle of power while shutting down the rest of the machine. You might find that under control panel/ power options, or under a dedicated Toshiba power management utility ... See more Hi Katalin,
Toshiba notebooks can be unreliable coming back after hibernation if there's a lot of stuff running - wireless doesn't always work, for example. But there's another option: "Suspend", which doesn't write the contents of RAM to the hard drive as hibernation does, but simply keeps supplying RAM with a trickle of power while shutting down the rest of the machine. You might find that under control panel/ power options, or under a dedicated Toshiba power management utility (this might also be in control panel, or might be in a separate place, which is the better one to use if you have it).
The machine shouldn't really be overheating, though. With all that software running, you might not have enough RAM - do you have 1 Gig? (512 MB is certainly not enough to be running all that stuff without overworking the processor and the hard drive - both of which add up to more heat.) Also, I would hit Ctrl-alt-delete and look at the use of system resources to see if any particular program is hogging RAM - one common culprit here is Firefox, which has "memory leak" issues that make it a good idea to restart the browser every once in a while - and certainly to close the browser if you feel your machine is running hot or bogging down.
[Edited at 2007-09-07 19:24] ▲ Collapse
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Philippe Etienne wrote:
Put all your files and apps in there.
It is usually located at Start menu>All Programs>right-click Start-up and choose Browse (or Explore?).
Place shortcuts of whatever (files or apps) and let the thing do the job while you file your nails or have coffee.
When I turn on the computer in the morning, I have time to have coffee while DNS, IE, TO3000,Outlook, Password mgmt software, PowerDesk and whatever needed for the current assignment (SR32, Trados, TagEditor, Word, etc.) are loading.
Surprising that so few people use this feature.
Philippe
[Modifié le 2007-09-07 19:02]
Thank Phillippe! I wasn't even aware of this feature, it's going to save me so much time ever morning.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 12:33
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Does it really overheat | Sep 8, 2007 |
Or do you just believe so. I have my laptop on for about a week before I shut it down. It goes to sleep after half an hour or when I shut the lit it stops activity but keeps the system running. Then it is really cool too, I mean temperature is low and power consumption is minimal (can run on akku for days when lit is closed). And I have only 512 Mb on XP.
But startup should no take very long even from scratch. All those programs remember the last location of files, tm, database etc.
... See more Or do you just believe so. I have my laptop on for about a week before I shut it down. It goes to sleep after half an hour or when I shut the lit it stops activity but keeps the system running. Then it is really cool too, I mean temperature is low and power consumption is minimal (can run on akku for days when lit is closed). And I have only 512 Mb on XP.
But startup should no take very long even from scratch. All those programs remember the last location of files, tm, database etc.
Regards
Heinrich ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Recent documents | Sep 8, 2007 |
Doesn't the Start/recent documents function do exactly what you need?
| | | | Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Hungarian to English
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| This might be something.... | Sep 8, 2007 |
for you to look at - I haven't used it myself, but a new version was enthusastically reviewed on a gadget site I read that is normally ruthless:
http://launchy.net/
[Edited at 2007-09-08 13:41]
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| Yes, it overheats, and Recent Docs is no good | Sep 9, 2007 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
Or do you just believe so.
Heinrich, unfortunately it is not just that I believe so. I learned after a painful few months of unexpected shutdowns that my Toshiba model is prone to overheating. I found a series of advice from other users and followed them to resolve the issue. I vacuumed the machine, got the dust out of all vents and particularly the fan area, and since then I have the computer propped up on a large doorstop wedge, so the vent holes (which are around the bottom edge of the housing) are fully exposed and farther away from my leather-surfaced desk). I shut the computer down every night for at least a few hours. Since I have been doing this, I had no problems with unexpected shutdowns (knock on wood). I did not have to go to the extent of replacing the cooling grid on the processor itself (that would be an intrusive and messy job as it involves cleaning off the gel and putting new on).
Marie-Helene: Thank you for the advice, but the Recent docs solution does not work for me. First of all, I would still need to click on every single file there, and it would not hold as many files as I may need. Plus, it would also contain filenames that I used just temporarily, but closed down way before I shut the computer down. So that list would not contain the exact files I had open for the project, before I shut down, it may have more or less. In addition, some of the files I have to work with should be launched from inside their respective applications, so they cannot be properly launched from the Recent Docs. Some of them don't even show up in there.
Sam: Yes, I will remember your suggestion about AutoHotKey, but in this case it would not help me much as the files I need to work with may change say by day. So I would need to modify the script according to that, and it would not be very effective timewise.
Jim: I have 768M RAM, and I don't think I can put in more. I think the computer came with 256 and I added a 512M bank and that's all it could take. I may look into this, but I don't think the overheating is a memory issue - as I mentioned above, it is more a model/design problem.
I will check out that Launchy thing, although I have a feeling that I may have to investigate the Hibernation function again and see if I can get it properly work on my machine, as that is the exact functionality I am looking for.
| | | | Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Hungarian to English
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| Couple of things... | Sep 9, 2007 |
Katalin, the machine is less likely to run efficiently with 2 ram blocks of different sizes, though here I suspect that is not the main problem. Still, you would be better off tossing the smaller chip and replacing it with another of the bigger ones.
If you do happen to replace the gel, remember that putting on too much is worse than putting on none at all. Just a tiny dab, and spread it around. The gel's purpose is to fill in the microscopic pits on the chip surface - otherwise... See more Katalin, the machine is less likely to run efficiently with 2 ram blocks of different sizes, though here I suspect that is not the main problem. Still, you would be better off tossing the smaller chip and replacing it with another of the bigger ones.
If you do happen to replace the gel, remember that putting on too much is worse than putting on none at all. Just a tiny dab, and spread it around. The gel's purpose is to fill in the microscopic pits on the chip surface - otherwise, the best conduction of heat is bare surface-to-surface. Most people put on too much.
What about Suspend on that Toshiba? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | sleep or hybernate | Sep 9, 2007 |
- if you close the laptop's lid with all your documents opened, the system should go to sleep mode (storing all the data of the apps in RAM). This is enough if you turn it on (open the lid) next morning and solves the overheating problems too (as all the components are turned off, just the memory stays on).
- if you plan taking more break, you can use the hybernate function, that makes an image of all your current system and applications and restore it when you power it up
ho... See more - if you close the laptop's lid with all your documents opened, the system should go to sleep mode (storing all the data of the apps in RAM). This is enough if you turn it on (open the lid) next morning and solves the overheating problems too (as all the components are turned off, just the memory stays on).
- if you plan taking more break, you can use the hybernate function, that makes an image of all your current system and applications and restore it when you power it up
hope it helps, cheers
[Módosítva: 2007-09-09 21:33] ▲ Collapse
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