[BigAlDoc]

Does anyone know of a program to store and manage smileys for placing in emails or web posts? I have an old (and now defunct) program called Smiley Pad (see attached) which lets me maintain and use a locally stored library of smileys. It's a nice program but the only way it will work in Windows 7 is to complete turn off the UAC which I don't want to do.

I've done a lot of Googling and can't find anything like it. I'm also NERVOUS about some stuff you see about smileys because of malware infection which I don't want to chance.

[DaveA]

Have you tried running this program "As Administrator"?

If this works, then set the properties to always runs as administrator.

[BigAlDoc]

Thanks Dave. Yes, I've run it as not only Administrator but in XP Compatible mode as well.

It seems that MS has done something (during Vista days) to "protect" the clipboard from 3rd party programs and I can't find how to override that (so far).

Someone I know has said that it happened during a Vista security update concerning the clipboard and I can't find out anything about that.

[DaveA]

Is the Windows 7 64 bit by chance?

Remember that 16 bit programs will not run on a 64 bit OS.

[throoper]

Wonder if disabling UAC just for the SmileyPad would work?
Maybe one of these links will help.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/wi...windows/?p=635
http://dailyapps.net/2008/05/tip-qui...ific-programs/


By the way, I love this program. Just downloaded it a couple hours ago and have been loading it up. You need to get it working on Windows 7.

[BigAlDoc]

Glad you like the program! Because it's a defunct app, I intentionally didn't put a link to it in my first post, but I'll do that now just in case others are interested. Here's a CNET link:

SmileyPad - CNET

As I told Dave in Post #3, in Win 7 Pro I've run SmileyPad as Administrator AND in XP compatibility mode and still no joy. I did read an article somewhere that the Win 7 UAC works differently than Vista and you pull a "slider" up or down for how much "security" you want. But that doesn't work. A REGISTRY hack to completely disable UAC does work, but truthfully, I don't really want to do that. By the way Dave, my Win 7 is 32-bit.

The two links you gave appear to focus on Vista's UAC so I'm not sure if it's safe to think those things would work in Win 7.

And finally, it has been reported to me privately that somewhere during the life of Vista, MS put out a security patch to "protect" the clipboard from 3rd party programs. SmileyPad IS a 3rd party program and it DOES use the clipboard to paste your smileys. I don't think the Win 7 UAC is the culprit for SMILEY PAD because it runs without problem and "tries" to work but doesn't paste the smiley. I can tell that because when you paste a smiley, there is a short chirp sound indicating SP has gone through the clipboard to make the paste. But the smiley doesn't appear. So, in (long) conclusion, I think the problem lies in the Windows 7 clipboard area and I've yet to get a response from anyone who might know how to "patch" this problem.

[BigAlDoc]

Here's the article about the Windows 7 registry. I used the registry hack in Method #2:

How to Disable and Turn Off UAC in Windows 7

[throoper]

The way I was reading it, it appeared that the update to UAC shut down the ability of a third party APP to run with an elevated privilege. Microsofts usual "all or nothing".

The Application Compatibility Toolkit looks like it can enable a per app exception in Vista and I don't see why it wouldn't work in Windows 7. The main change is 7 has a little more flexibility than Vista. Might be worth a try.
TOOL DOWNLOAD

[BigAlDoc]

OK, what the heck, I've got a nightly backup image I can restore if necessary! I'll give it a try when I get home later today and post back. Thanks fer the "prod" ...

[BigAlDoc]

Wow, I may be a 30+ year computer "road warrior" (advanced) but I don't know nuthin' 'bout no SQL, API or any of dat really deep, super-advanced programmer type stuff!

I tried the ACT route and there's a gazillion choices to make in there, all along the way and I don't know the first thing about any of 'em. So, I just accepted all the defaults and seem to have created a compatibility "database" of some sort for Smiley Pad, but the program still just chirps and doesn't paste in a smiley.

It'll take someone with a lot more savvy than I have to check this one out.

[throoper]

Assuming you saved and named the new database, steps F,G, and H in the TechRepublic article, it looks like it's right and should now have the same privileges as a Windows APP.
Just curious (I'm looking at this from a different angle), can you drag a smiley into a Word doc and save as HTML?

[BigAlDoc]

I don't use Word but Open Office instead. NO, you can't put a smiley, using SmileyPad into any kind of text document. It only works for email and forum posts. I've tried in both Open Office Writer (the equivalent of Word) and a plain text editor.

[throoper]

Hmm!!! What I tried was dragging a smiley and dropped it onto a Word doc, then saved as HTM. I opened it up and checked the source and the URL was there so I know it didn't just copy the GIF from the cache, but also transfered the IMG info.
I had thought that if you could do that, completely on your machine, then it would show that it's going to the clipboard, but not being allowed to copy to the web.
Looks like it's where you started and it's being blocked from being placed on the clipboard in the first place.

Just to double check, does it work if you temporarily disable UAC?

I'll take a guess that right clicking a smiley in the window and copying the url (even into a text editor) also won't work. This almost makes me want Vista or Win 7 just to figure out a way to beat the stupid thing. Notice I said almost.

If I come up with any other bright ideas, I'll post them for you to look at.

[throoper]

I think I might know why it's happening.
Here's my half-baked theory:
The copy and paste is being done by script. The security in Windows is blocking the script.

If that's right, then my previous guess about not being able to right click and copy the url will be wrong, as that isn't done by script. In which case, SmileyPad can still be used to store the urls and give a graphic interface for you to see what one you're selecting. You would only need to add the IMG tags when pasting.

Better would be to figure out how to allow scripts for copy/paste.

[nabl3t]

Interesting program. As I understand it allowes me to put any chosen saved smilies to any web forum ?

Also is program virus free / simple to use ? I dont wanna mess up my computer with some spyware garbage or stuff that requires too much memory/ hdd space or other system requirements.