Base64Util (145KB zip)

This is a simple Windows application that converts text to and from base 64 representation. Unlike other such utilities I've come across, this one allows you to specify whether the input text should be treated as ANSI/MBCS or Unicode. Also, when converting from base 64, it attempts to determine whether the data is Unicode or ANSI/MBCS text, or binary - and displays the result accordingly.

Instructions:

Enter or paste the text you want to encode in the text field, select the Unicode or ANSI/MBCS option above, and press the "To Base64" button to see the encoded form in the Base 64 string field.

To decode a base 64 string, paste it into the base 64 string field and press the "From Base64" button.

If the decoded data appears to be text it will be shown in the text field and the Unicode or ANSI option above will be set accordingly. If the decoded data appears to be binary, it will be shown in this field as pairs of hexadecimal characters for each byte of data. Because the determination of text or binary is not foolproof you can select the "Binary Display" check box to force the display to the binary format.

CFTest V1.5 (111 KB zip)

CFTest lets you exercise the most common options you're likely to need with the CreateFile API.

• Open and close files interactively
• Choose to open for reading, writing, or both
• Specify the read/write sharing options
• Read & Write data to the file

I initially wrote CFTest when I first started developing for 32-bit Windows platforms because I found the documentation for the CreateFile API options confusing. Since then I've found it invaluable on many occasions when testing applications for correct file sharing behavior and evaluating the behaviour of the file system when reading and writing files.

V1.4. Adds the option to preserve the file timestamp (by using SetFileTime immediately after opening the file), and the posix semantics option.

V1.5. For ease of use, supports auto-complete in the file name edit control, and drag and drop of the file.

CSIDLS (26.5 KB zip)

This is a test program that illustrates a quirk I came across using the SHGetFolderPath API under different platforms.

The program was published in association with an item titled "SHGetFolderPath() Platform Differences" in the "Tech Tips" column of Windows Developer's Journal March 2002 Volume 13, Number 3.

For anyone wondering, here was the quirk:

"Windows 2000 and XP natively implement SHGetFolderPath(), and behave as documented. But under NT4 and Windows 9x, it exhibits a quirk for some CSIDL values: it returns S_OK with an empty string for the folder path."

DLLReg (1KB)

This one is simplicity itself! It's just a simple registry file (DllReg.reg) that I always find extremely useful to install on any system that I'm developing on when working with self-registering DLLs.

All it does is add registry entries to register 2 commands for .DLL and .OCX files. These commands run the regsvr32 commands to register and unregister files.

Download the file and merge the information to your registry. You'll then have a "Register" and "Unregister" context menu for .DLL and .OCX files.

Lots of Files (109KB zip)

This program lets you quickly create large numbers of (zero length) files - which can be useful if you need to test file enumeration code. It also has a simple find files test too.

FileTms 24.8 KB (25,482 bytes) (zip)

A command line program that displays all 3 timestamp values for files and directories. You may find it useful with in conjunction with TouchCmd, the command line version of our TouchPro program. See the TouchPro documentation for the details.

FlipSS V2.0.0.0

Released: 3 Dec 2020
Size: 142 KB (146,394 bytes)

FlipSS allows you to:

• Start/stop the screen saver.
• Enable/disable the idle timed starting of the screen saver.

V2.0 is a significant re-write of the original version from the Windows 95 era and is tested on Windows 10.

Usage:

FlipSS [/start, /stop, /on, /off] [/debug]

/debug will log usage and any errors to the Windows Application event log.

Invoking FlipSS with no options will show the currently configured screen saver and the current idle enabled state.

The FlipSS return value indicates any error that may occur. Zero is no error, any non-zero value is a Win32 error code. To get the context of the error, use the /debug option and examine any FlipSS records in the event log.

ForeLock (27KB zip)

This console application lets you view and change the Windows foreground lock timeout value. It uses the SystemParametersInfo API (SPI_GETFOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT & SPI_SETFOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT).

SetDefPr (13 KB)

This program lets you change the default Windows printer from a command line (or shortcut).

Usage:

SetDefPr PrinterName

For example:

SetDefPr "Microsoft Fax"

SetDefPr "HP Deskjet 850C"

... and some further examples supplied by a user:

For a network printer installed in another PC:

SetDefPr \\Machine\PrinterShare

For a network printer with IP address in the Network and not attached to any PC:

SetDefPr "\\Machine\HP LaserJet 8100 Series PCL 6"

SetWorkingSet (33KB zip)

This simple console application allows you to call the SetProcessWorkingSetSize API on an arbitrary process.

Use Task Manager (or whatever other tool you like) to find the PID of the process you want to affect, and use the utility like this:

SetWorkingSet PID [Min Max]

ShellExec V1.5. 146 KB (150,318 bytes)

Last updated: 25 Jan 2014

I've found this a surprisingly useful test program for exercising the ShellExecute(Ex) APIs. It lets you easily test how an application behaves with different verbs.

As you can see from the screenshot, there are 4 string UI fields that correspond to the 4 string parameters of the Windows ShellExecute API, and the fifth UI field allows you to choose one of the SW_* values.

SpaceHog - V1.2 - 139 KB (142,823 bytes)

This program is useful for testing applications against low-disk space situations.

You can configure how much free space to leave on a drive, or alternatively, you can set the size of the hog file.

UTF8/7 Converter (3.06 MB (3,210,000 bytes))

This program will convert strings between Windows Unicode (UTF-16) and UTF-8 or UTF-7 character encodings and also present the raw binary data (as hex).

 Select either UTF-8 or UTF-7 from the drop list, and type or paste your text into the appropriate field to see it instantly converted into the other forms.

Updated to V2.1 - 19 September 2020.

This fixes incorrect operation if you have UTF-8 set as the default locale by using the Windows 10 Region Setting "Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support".

Windows XP Source Search Registry File (2KB)

This REG file adds the registry settings for several commonly used source file extensions so that the Explorer search facility works as you'd expect under Windows XP.

You'll need to close and restart Explorer after merging the file. Depending on your Explorer "launch folder windows in a separate process" setting, it may be easiest just to log off and back on again.