VideoHelp Forum - Computer https://forum.videohelp.com/ Talk about anything related to PC hardware or software here. en Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:40:24 GMT vBulletin 60 https://forum.videohelp.com/images/misc/rss.png VideoHelp Forum - Computer https://forum.videohelp.com/ Name a little known program that you fancy quite a bit https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420189-Name-a-little-known-program-that-you-fancy-quite-a-bit?goto=newpost Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:54:54 GMT Name a little known program that you fancy quite a bit (freeware preferably).

I'll go with sfk, A.K.A. “Swiss File Knife”. It's a small command line utility (2.8MB) with a tremendous list of capabilities, to process files or text or code in pretty much every way imaginable.

“Amazing multi-platform single-file executable with built-in help and more features than I can reasonably list. If you need to do something with your system or its files or network or... or... [...], Swiss File Knife can probably do it.”
Review from “danlock” on SourceForge

I've used so far:
– sfk setbytes ~ “set bytes at offset within a file”
– sfk partcopy ~ “copy part from a file into another one”
– sfk hexdump ~ “create hexdump from a binary file”
– sfk hexfind ~ “search static binary data”
– sfk xfind ~ “search in text files using wildcards and simple expressions”
– sfk xed ~ “edit stream text using sfk expressions”
– sfk md5 ~ “calc md5 over a file, compare two files” (also md5var to calculate the MD5 checksum of a string of text, can be used for instance to generate complex 32 bytes passwords out of simple, easy to remember expressions)

It's 100% safe.

As an example, a script I made to list and download programs from French channel Arte's replay platform, since the GUI utility Captvty stopped supporting it (and its development is way slower than it used to be, while the purported replacement Captvty 3 has been in beta for years, and doesn't work on Windows 7). It's crude, but works. (Rename to .bat to try it. Requires sfk.exe, curl.exe, yt-dlp.exe. The layout of the HTML page presenting the list of available programs changes slightly every few weeks, then it no longer works and has to be tweaked, I have yet to find a workaround. Any suggestion welcome.)

----------

As an honorable mention: FART, A.K.A. “Find And Replace Tool”, which I discovered while updating sfk and haven't actually tested yet, but the classy name alone makes it a must-have. (Although whatever it does, sfk can probably do it just as well, and much, much more.)
Surely endorsed by that classy lady.

----------

While I'm at it, I am still looking for a command line tool or efficient script that would:
– compare two files, of any length, starting from a specified offset
– stop at the first difference found and output the offset of the first difference, relative to the beginning of each file.
It may be possible to do that with sfk, I have yet to try its file comparison features.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version Name: arte.tv liste + téléchargement [20260308] test.png Views: N/A Size: 72.1 KB ID: 91439  

Attached Files
]]> Computer abolibibelot https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420189-Name-a-little-known-program-that-you-fancy-quite-a-bit Am I alone being pi$$ed off by JPG/PNG pictures being saved as WEBP/AVIF? https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420179-Am-I-alone-being-pi-ed-off-by-JPG-PNG-pictures-being-saved-as-WEBP-AVIF?goto=newpost Sat, 07 Mar 2026 01:52:09 GMT For a few years now, an increasing number of websites have exhibited that stupid weirdness, or weird stupidness, regarding how pictures embedded within a page are named, and loaded, and saved when a visitor decides to do so: for instance, a picture appears to be named “somewhat... For a few years now, an increasing number of websites have exhibited that stupid weirdness, or weird stupidness, regarding how pictures embedded within a page are named, and loaded, and saved when a visitor decides to do so: for instance, a picture appears to be named “somewhat.jpg”, but when you save it, it gets saved as “somewhat.webp”, and is in fact a WEBP file; now if you go to “Page information” on Firefox (or whatever it's called in your localized version), you can see that the link indeed ends with “.../somewhat.jpg”, and from there it will be saved with the name “somewhat.jpg”, but will in fact be a WEBP file (which is not recognized by the Windows 7 explorer, and I doubt that it's displayed natively even in Windows 11) despite the .jpg extension; even if you copy the link and load that single picture in the browser, and save it, it will be saved as WEBP... BUT if you copy the link and download the picture with a basic curl command, you'll get a “somewhat.jpg” file which is indeed a JPG file! How come? Do other browsers behave differently?
Sometimes even curl gets a WEBP file. Sometimes saving from “Page information” allows to get an actual JPG file – even though the file type puzzlingly appears as “WEBP picture”. Like Chewbacca on planet Endor, it does not make sense.
The same happens with PNG pictures, and instead of WEBP it can be AVIF (which is an even less widely recognized format, neither XnView nor IrfanView can read it – granted, I'm using versions from 2017 and 2018 respectively...).

For instance, that page (linked in that thread):
https://www.easeus.com/file-recovery/recover-deleted-files-on-ssd.html
It's an unusual example, as some pictures appearing as PNG are indeed saved as PNG files, while some are saved as WEBP, for no obvious reason.
Code:
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/ssd-data-loss-scenarios.png
=> saved as PNG (size = 119311)
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/choose-run-as.png
=> saved as PNG (size = 168673)
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/type-the-command-to-check-trim.png
=> saved as PNG (size = 50724)
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/recover-hard-drive-step1.png
=> saved as WEBP (size = 32674)
=> a curl command with that link fetches an actual PNG picture (size = 36948)
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/recover-hard-drive-step2.png
=> saved as PNG (size = 31750)
https://www.easeus.com/images/en/data-recovery/drw-pro/screenshots/recover-hard-drive-step3.png
=> saved as WEBP (size = 85858)
=> a curl command with that link fetches an actual PNG picture (size = 91312)
It has become so pervasive, even TVTropes, an old website with a basic design that hasn't evolved much since its inception, has that crap now.

What can possibly be the rationale for this? The WEBP/AVIF version is more compressed (sometimes visibly of much lesser quality than the JPG/PNG counterpart) and has a smaller size, but, since the actual JPG or PNG picture is also stored on the website, it does not reduce the amount of space used by each picture, it adds MOAR globally. Perhaps it's a tiny bit fewer bits to transfer for regular visitors who do not go out of their way to save each picture in the best quality available, but isn't that somewhat ridiculous to save something like 20% in bandwitdth (less than that in the example above) for pictures which are usually about 100KB to 1MB in size (less than that in the example above), when the bulk of data transfers nowadays is due to videos and gazillions of tracking and profiling marketing technologies?

(And this is my 1000th post...)

Image
[Attachment 91427 - Click to enlarge]
Attached Images
 
]]> Computer abolibibelot https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420179-Am-I-alone-being-pi-ed-off-by-JPG-PNG-pictures-being-saved-as-WEBP-AVIF Inquiries on USB Flash Drives and Micro SD Cards https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420140-Inquiries-on-USB-Flash-Drives-and-Micro-SD-Cards?goto=newpost Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:53:53 GMT Greetings .... Seeking information about reliability and long-term usage -- including as data archives -- concerning USB flash drives and micro SD cards. Any replies to this will not need to say much about costs, as I have already seen that one external non-ssd hard drive with, say, 2 TB... Greetings ....

Seeking information about reliability and long-term usage -- including as data archives -- concerning USB flash drives and micro SD cards.

Any replies to this will not need to say much about costs, as I have already seen that one external non-ssd hard drive with, say, 2 TB capacity, will be easier on the wallet than the purchase of however many flash drives or micro SD cards are needed to equal such capacity.

So, replies can focus on the drives and micro SD cards that are consistently among the most reliable for both everyday use, as well as for long term data storage.

Thanx-A-Lotte, Frank-0-Video ]]> Computer Frank-0-Video https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420140-Inquiries-on-USB-Flash-Drives-and-Micro-SD-Cards Not connecting to internet via ethernet using wifi repeater https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420058-Not-connecting-to-internet-via-ethernet-using-wifi-repeater?goto=newpost Sat, 14 Feb 2026 16:32:08 GMT Hi, does anyone know why the wifi repeater I have won't connect to the internet using a wifi repeater plug in adapter. I bought the adapter for my son as as he needed a faster connecting with the ethernet, and the only option was to use a wifi repeater which plugs in with an ethernet cable from the device to the back of my sons gaming PC towers. It was working fine until yesterday when the cable and repeater was disconnected and connected to different computer in a different house, but I had used a data cable thinking it was a ethernet cable and noticed it wouldn't connect. After I connected the cable repeater back upto his gaming PC again it won't connect. There are 4 lights on the repeater which (I'm assuming) should all light up green, but only 3 seem to light up. Maybe the data cable I was using has messed something up or maybe the repeater is faulty.

Anyone know what may be causing this? ]]> Computer techmot https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420058-Not-connecting-to-internet-via-ethernet-using-wifi-repeater bypass Windows 10 login screen https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420040-bypass-Windows-10-login-screen?goto=newpost Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:56:07 GMT Hi, I think Windows 10 login screen, which shows every time after the lock screen when I turn my Windows 10 laptop on, is useless at home. How can I bypass this step? Hi,

I think Windows 10 login screen, which shows every time after the lock screen when I turn my Windows 10 laptop on, is useless at home. How can I bypass this step? ]]> Computer blanc https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420040-bypass-Windows-10-login-screen Any issues with Western Digital External Drives 2020 or later ??? https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420027-Any-issues-with-Western-Digital-External-Drives-2020-or-later?goto=newpost Sun, 08 Feb 2026 06:38:22 GMT Greetings ....

UPDATE ... Feb 8th 2026 at 6:48pm US EST ... For almost certain, I have a defective or near-dead drive. It either does or does not start up when plugging in to any usb port. All data has been successfully -- and thankfully -- re-located to another drive. At some point, I'll wipe and re-format the drive to see what happens, but I concede that its lifetime may be over.

Original Post ...............

I currently use Western Digital "My Passport" external drives in capacities of two (2), four (4) and five (5) terabytes. By turn, they all serve a Windows-11 computer.

The 2-tb drives were purchased in 2021, 2023 and 2024. The 4-tb drive dates from 2023, and the 5-tb drive dates from 2025. All drives employ a usb-3.0 cable connection to any desktop or laptop computer. I can't say if any of these are regular or "ultra". Most likely they are all regular.

What I believe is the oldest 2-tb drive dates from 2021. Within the last few days, it has begun to act oddly, sometimes going offline. A jiggle of the cable will sometimes get the drive back up.

I've tested the drive with various connections, including the use of usb cables from the other 2-tb drives. The same occasional problem still occurs.

Right now I've got the suspect drive 2-tb up, running, in a stationary position, and currently I am copying off all data to the 5 tb drive. My plan is to invest in a newer drive and re-locate all data to it.

If any one has info about the typical lifetime of Western Digital external drives made 2020 and after, as well as any known issues with these drive, please let me know. Your reply may include suggestions on how to extend existing drive life and usage.

If anyone has recommendations for alternatives to the Western Digital brand externals, you may reply with those as well.

Thanx-A-Lotte, Frank-0-Video ]]> Computer Frank-0-Video https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420027-Any-issues-with-Western-Digital-External-Drives-2020-or-later