Startup message

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I regularly forget to change my default printer when I travel. I was wondering how I can see a popup message when windows first starts, that says “Please check your default printer before doing anything else” I’m not sure how that would work. It would have an OK button to close. Maybe I could fiddle with the font or font color to make it stand out. Any ideas? TYIA

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I regularly forget to change my default printer when I travel. I was wondering how I can see a popup message when windows first starts, that says “Please check your default printer before doing anything else” I’m not sure how that would work. It would have an OK button to close. Maybe I could fiddle with the font or font color to make it stand out. Any ideas? TYIA

You could created a text file or web page and then insert the appropriate command for notepad or ie in your startup folder.

Joe

--Joe

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Try the attached. Unzip and put in your Startup folder. (You can just double-click the .exe to test.)

Note: This is my first ever attempt at doing something with Visual Studio! I’ve tested it here and it seems to do what it’s meant to do….

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[snip] I’ve tested it here and it seems to do what it’s meant to do….

And that is?

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And that is?

Give a little pop-up like so:

[indent][/indent]

Perhaps you need .net or summat… I don’t know, I told you it was the first thing I’d done…

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To run it, you need to have the .Net Framework installed (I don’t know which version is required – there is 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, …)

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To run it, you need to have the .Net Framework installed …

Looks like 3.5 SP1…

(I think I need to get onto chapter 2 of the book )

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Give a little pop-up like so: [snip]

Just kidding, Leif. I understood from your post that it is a simple dialogue box, but the end of the sentence opened up for some fascinating possibilities…

However, as you said; I don’t have any .NET installed, so I got a 0xc0000135 error (and one can get that error for several versions, and situations, but no .NET is the reason for me)., but I guess that that works as a reminder as well.

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Try the attached. Unzip and put in your Startup folder. (You can just double-click the .exe to test.)

Note: This is my first ever attempt at doing something with Visual Studio! I’ve tested it here and it seems to do what it’s meant to do….

Works for me!
Congratulations on your first attempt, too?

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Any ideas?

Another thought is to make use of Defprint, which can be found here: Desktop – Change Default Printer on Windows Using Defprint

A couple of batch files would give you quick switching between two printers, or you could selectively include a shortcut to the appropriate one in your Startup folder.

Note: from memory, you need to give printers a share name, even if they are not shared, as this is how Defprint identifies them:
[indent][/indent]

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I was wondering how I can see a popup message when windows first starts, that says “Please check your default printer before doing anything else”

Simplest solution seems to me to create a bmp file with a graphics editor, with whatever message you want and load that as your desktop background. I use a graphics image of my diary for the month.

JG

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Simplest solution seems to me to create a bmp file with a graphics editor, with whatever message you want and load that as your desktop background. I use a graphics image of my diary for the month.

I think the problem with a static image is that it is too easy to get used to it – a pop-up message demands attention and requires action to remove it.

(How do you cope with changes to your calendar? And do you not need reminders for the next month when you are on the last day of the present month?)

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I think the problem with a static image is that it is too easy to get used to it

True

(How do you cope with changes to your calendar?

I have the source gif image on the desktop as well, so a double click opens in it PSP, a quick edit and resave and my calendar is updated. If the change is for the next few days I’ll right click on the desktop and reload the wallpaper immediately, otherwise I’ll leave it for the reload. I change the calendar everyday, first thing, to cross off yesterday and then reload it.

And do you not need reminders for the next month when you are on the last day of the present month?)

When I get near the end of the month I cut off the first two weeks and add the first two weeks of next month on at the bottom.

JG

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Surely rather than give any sort of message, there might be an easy way of detecting where you were (read, what you were connected to) and so a BATch file in your Startup group could set the default printer appropriately with something like DEFPRINT or (stop me if you’ve heard this one before!) CON2PRT…

All you need is to determine the conditions, and it would be the work of a few lines! (Yes, I know Leif suggested this earlier, but one should be able to do it automatically, and in one BATch file!)

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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I tried Leif’s file as an exe and now have it in my WIndows Startup folder. Works fine. Thanks for all the ideas.

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