Lee,

So how did you know it happened before you got bit in the
backside by it?

I was, in file explorer, trying to find a document by typing its name.
Suddenly it started to "act wierd", responding to the keystrokes by dropping
menus from the toolbar.

Maybe it's the mouse one is not supposed to hot plug in or
out like that,

Although I seldom do, I've never had problems with it.

While I was fooling around in the 98 portion of this computer I came
across some VBS script examples I can post for the send keys method
mentioned before.

Thanks. Although it doesn't solve the problem itself (and I need to be
lucky to become aware of the problem before it barfs all over my desktop),
it mightbe helpfull in making sure thats its not a physically stickey key --
If its a keyboard-handling driver-code problem (as I'm suspecting) than
sending a single "key up" messsage (for each of the offending keyss should
release them.

So if vbs can detect the moment the full screen CLI is minimized then it
can send an ALT key press or flush buffer operation (better option if
available?) and the issue is no more.

I was also thinking along the same lines (great minds yadyadayda :-) ), but
as I was busy with figuring out something else I did not yet spend any time
on it.

You will have to have Scripting Host installed,

It is. Can't even remember when it wasn't ... And thanks for the links.

Regards
Rudy Wieser


-- Origional message:
Lee schreef in berichtnieuws
...
On Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 1:54:18 AM UTC-6, R.Wieser wrote:
Lee,

But XP is not 98 and 98 may not have such oversight. And if it did, I
wouldn't know where to find it.

What is it known as under XP / where is it located ? knowing how its
named
could be a starting point for a round of googeling ...

Yeah... nameless widget as far as I know, these aspects would be a part of
some nondescript dll support file running as a dependency to windows
explorer. Which makes it pretty much unchangeable by the common man like
me. But one might find a function call for it just the same, trouble would
be guessing the correct name as you've already noted is the real task at
hand.

On second thought there is fail mode in 98 related, maybe. I'll select 14
pictures highlighted and 'send to' MS PhotoEditor and each opens it's own
window under MS PhotoEditor. But trying to send 30 or more goes sideways
with an error report window that I have to click OK to close if I want to
continue. Not the same thing and still not accessible to us for tweaking,
but it is there by some unknown mechanism.

I get the feeling we now are. By the way, thank you for *not* biting my
head of when I mentioned we weren't (I've got experiences otherwise ...
:-\ ).

I did that primarily because I too detected no small amount of restraint on
your part as well. Appreciated in turn.


One can select and highlight a file starting with g just by pressing the
g
key

I did not know about that, I just tried it. It did not appear to do
anything for me (on my Win98se 'puter).


Had me scared there for a moment, have I become a worthless XP junky or not?
Oh, the humanity -- the SHAME. Had to reboot and there 98 does do as I
suggest with a couple of issues. And the same issues apply to XP too.
First, your focus has to be in the right pane and not the left pane of
windows explorer. Second there has to be an existing match to the letter
pressed in order to 'goto' it and highlight the target. Folders do count
too. If the target doesn't exist THEN you get nothing happening. I'm usually
in the wrong pane and that's just no fun at all because you then have scroll
back to where you were before all that happened, and you've also lost the
folder you were in.


Thanks for the links. There is a problem with them though: I would need
to
be able to have them do whatever they do *just after* I switch from te CLI
to the GUI (or the other way around), with no further actions needed on my
side (which either would make it cumbersome, or interfere with being able
to
detect the problem). It looks like they are not upto such a job ...

Agreed. If only winders was as easy to write a useful program for we might
have the equivalent to these running in the GUI where the issue raises it's
ugly head at.

It may come down to a faulty keyboard?

Yes, I also thought of that. But in that case the problem would also
stick
up its ugly head at other moments than after just having switched from the
CLI to the GUI, which does not seem to happen.

And here I completely forgot that you already mentioned trying other
keyboards with no success. The thoughts come so fast and I type so slow...
Brain fart, sorry about that.


By the way: yesterday it happened again. This time I did not touch my
keyboard, but physically dis- and reconnected it again. The sticky key
was
no more.

So how did you know it happened before you got bit in the backside by it? If
there is a tell, we may be able to find just the right shaped stick to beat
it into submission with.

Maybe it's the mouse one is not supposed to hot plug in or out like that,
but I was thinking you are not supposed to do that with a keyboard either?
In any case we appreciate your hardware sacrifice highly, a hack is a hack
and who cares as long as it works with no casualties?

OR -- maybe this is what happens when one does that? I wouldn't know,
whenever 98 tells me it detected no mouse and/or keyboard connected for that
matter I will just pull the plug on it and fix that issue first. And suffer
the safe mode reboot foolishness gladly. Please review no-no list, I'm
thinking that one is on there somewhere.


In other words: it does not seem to be a physical problem (might still be
in
the keyboards electronics, but as the moment of appearing seems to be
bound
to what I do in the OS I doubt that).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


So hard to know which is at fault, but agree in general.

While I was fooling around in the 98 portion of this computer I came across
some VBS script examples I can post for the send keys method mentioned
before. I forgot I had done this untold ages ago, I'm getting old age
pension BTW, so no youngster here - who thought the republicans in colorado
no less would give me money for doing nothing?

ReStart.vbs follows
---------------------------
With WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
.SendKeys "^{ESC}"
WScript.Sleep 500
.SendKeys "{u}"
WScript.Sleep 500
.SendKeys "{r}"
WScript.Sleep 1000
.SendKeys "~"
End With

first opens the windows key (which may be the combo of ^ and ESC), second is
the keyboard shortcut letter for shutdown box - u, third is keyboard
shortcut letter for restart -r, final is enter for OK box, IIRC. Sleep
lines are required because vbs script is far too fast for the sent keys to
be recognized and kept separate from each other, won't work without the
sleepy time in between. I believe 1000 value equates to one second, 500 then
being 1/2 second.

Click on the desktop shortcut to that file which is in the Windows folder
and like magic up comes the shutdown box and the restart selection is made
for you and it shuts down, only to restart again. Unlike the other many
desktop shortcut ways of doing the same thing, this method rewrites your
ShellIconCache file with new additions and allows it to grow up to 5 megs I
believe is the largest one I've seen in my other full time 98se box.

Shutdown.vbs follows
----------------------

With WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
.SendKeys "^{ESC}"
WScript.Sleep 500
.SendKeys "{u}"
WScript.Sleep 500
.SendKeys "{s}"
WScript.Sleep 1000
.SendKeys "~"
WScript.Sleep 500
.SendKeys "n"
End With

Not sure why the extra 'n' is sent afterwards but I needed it or it wouldn't
be in there. Perhaps a no answer to some prompt that was causing troubles
for me at one point?

So if vbs can detect the moment the full screen CLI is minimized then it can
send an ALT key press or flush buffer operation (better option if
available?) and the issue is no more. The vbs script would be placed in the
start up folder and run invisibly always behind everything looking for only
the full screen CLI being minimized, only then fire off the ALT press (or?)
with a sleep before hand just to be sure it isn't ignored and just keeps on
running waiting for the next time it can help. You can fight indians with
this one, unlimited bullet supply, just keep your head down.

You will have to have Scripting Host installed, it usually is by default but
the default version may be somewhat lacking. 5.6 was the highest version 98
had much luck with. All the old places that had these goodies are gone for
good I fear, even XP updates have been round filed by MS servers. WayBack
machine may be the only hope for us, but personally I've not had much luck
figuring that one out. Do look for the 5.6 scripting documentation help
file - it's filled with quite good information such as a FULL rundown of
every possible keypress for use with send keys method for example.
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo.../W982KMeXP/EN-
US/scrdoc56en.exe
amazing it's still good possibly because 2K still uses it.
and found that here
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/wshstart.php