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#74065 06/03/04 06:28 PM
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Im posting here to get some feed back about mirc's CRC check which is included in all versions after and including 6.11. I speak for the customization community which exists at <url deleted>

We have been using tools like resource hacker for years to customize mIRC's look by changing it's window and switchbar icons.

I understand you worry about others hacking mirc for malicious purposes, but the community would really like to be able to customize mIRC's icons! confused

Last edited by ParaBrat; 08/03/04 07:54 PM.
#74066 06/03/04 06:36 PM
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I would have to agree with what he's saying. I had been trying to reshack some icons out for an hour before I realized there was a protection against it. It's just a useful feature to include in a program.

I hope you'll consider our suggestion.

senex
<deleted>

Last edited by ParaBrat; 08/03/04 07:48 PM.
#74067 06/03/04 06:53 PM
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As an avid customizer of my desktop (deleted), I feel that reinstating this feature would garner a resounding "huzzah!" from the community at large. It's really disheartening to have a completely customized desktop and then have the default mIRC icons sitting there in the switchbar and titlebar... glaring at you... piercing you in the eyes with their default hatred.

You get the idea. We want our resource hacking rights back!

Brian Connolly

Last edited by ParaBrat; 08/03/04 07:49 PM.
#74068 06/03/04 07:09 PM
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Hi there smile

Firstly, we can get the idea from ONE person, it's rather annoying to be "ganged" up on, all three of you have posted the same opinion and contributed nothing more with each post, therefore, you'll receive the same replies with ONE post that you will with three. Oh, and we don't care that you're ___ administrators so repeating it all the time is equally as unnecessary :tongue:

Remember that hacking in general (and yes, I know the difference between hacking & cracking so don't give me a speech about that) is frowned upon by many. Also realise there are numerous DLLs out there that can change mIRC's features. The mIRC icon does not need changing - virtually everyone likes it and I think 99% prefer it to it's predecessor (I certainly do). The feature that prevents renaming mIRC.exe without having it at least begin with the acronym 'mIRC' is to help towards cutting down on spreading it as a virus. I don't know if there are other underlying reasons for it, but that's one of them - and it's a good one. As you say, you understand that attempts are made to cut down on malicious acts using mIRC, and unfortunately, those that are trustworthy and non-abusive do suffer from the actions of those abusive users.

There are also numerous ways in which the look of mIRC can be edited. You can use the /background command, and the buttons can be changed. Right click on the toolbar and you will see options to change the background and buttons. Right click the switchbar to change the background on that. You can also change various display settings by either right clicking the toolbar and choosing "Options" or going to ALT+O > Display. Dialogs also fit in with the Windows theme if one is set.

My 2 cents.

Regards,

Last edited by ParaBrat; 08/03/04 07:50 PM.

Mentality/Chris
#74069 06/03/04 07:17 PM
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We already know how to customize mIRC man, we just want to be able to change its icons for versions 6.11+.

"The mIRC icon does not need changing - virtually everyone likes it and I think 99% prefer it to it's predecessor."

Theres an entire community of many people who dont like default icons at <deleted>, so youre definantly wrong with that. Were not just talking about the main icon, were talking about the switchbar ones, channel icons, query icons, etc.

Last edited by ParaBrat; 08/03/04 07:52 PM.
#74070 06/03/04 07:20 PM
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You may notice that I did not simply advise you how to edit mIRC's look:

"The mIRC icon does not need changing - virtually everyone likes it and I think 99% prefer it to it's predecessor (I certainly do)."

I answered all aspects of your query, or at least I believe I did.

Regards,


Mentality/Chris
#74071 06/03/04 07:25 PM
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Firstly, we didn't intend to "gang up" on anybody. Rather than having just one person report a feature request, we felt it would be better received if it was understood that this is a concern of a community of people at large, not just an individual user.

Moreover, we appreciate the abilities of mIRC concerning customizability. Background images, fonts, and colors are all great tools to customize the look and make it look sleek. However, the looks is marred by the glaring default icons that sit in the titlebar and switchbar and that is our main concern.

As a community, we acknowledge that the program requires a certain amount of security given the inherent vulnerabilities that exist in not enforcing a file integrity check.

Is there any possibility to allow an option the display settings of mIRC that would make it possible to insert custom icons for the titlebar and switchbar? I know it would be more difficult for the switchbar since it uses a bitmap, but at least the titlebar uses a regular icon so that could be changed with little difficulty, correct?

#74072 06/03/04 07:27 PM
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I also think it's a little naive to state that "virtually everyone likes it". Where did you get this fact? That statistic would be difficult to prove even if it were true.

#74073 06/03/04 07:36 PM
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I understand it wasn't your intention to gang up on anyone, and it is nice that you posted your request in a polite manner, it was more of an FYI that it's a bit annoying - at least it is to me.

Speaking of FYIs, you have 2 hours to edit posts so if you want to add something, just click the 'Edit' button. I don't mind that you made another post, as I said, just an FYI smile

On the topic of my naivity, there was a thread at some point that, for some reason or another, gathered the points of view from people about how much they liked the current mIRC icon. I think everyone posted that they like it. I've also never seen any complaints, either on these forums or on IRC, about the mIRC icon and people disliking the way it looks - which says to me that people either like it, or at least don't mind it.

Regards,


Mentality/Chris
#74074 06/03/04 08:05 PM
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mircustom.dll - to change the mirc icon in the tray and titlebar, mdx.dll and mdock61.dll to create your own switchbar.
problem solved cool


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#74075 06/03/04 09:03 PM
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"Also realise there are numerous DLLs out there that can change mIRC's features."

Thanks tidy_trax, I was looking around for DLLs that could do it! smile

Here's some links to the ones tidy_trax mentioned:

mircustom.dll
MDX.dll (Direct download)
mdock61.dll (I could only find it at scriptsdb.org, but it has an English readme file!)

Regards,


Mentality/Chris
#74076 06/03/04 09:07 PM
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The reason you notice mIRC now has a cyclic redundancy check is because people have been distributing modified versions of mIRC on the internet. It is bad enough that scripters fail to yield to Khaled's License Agreement that states simply "may not be distributed as a part of any package". What's worse is that scripters and modifiers have gone beyond simply redistributing mIRC as part of their package, and have been changing its name and taking credit for its creation.

With this blow to mIRC's already shaky integrity (what with people wrapping mIRC as part of virus payloads) one of the ways to help ensure to the internet community (and to anti-virus software) that mIRC is safe is to ensure it hasn't been tampered with. While this may not be the best way, it's probably one of the few that Khaled is capable of. Perhaps if you can convince the thousands of scripters out there currently breaking the License Agreement? who knows.

I can simpathize with your situation though, and personally feel the CRC is not the best solution. I believe users have the right to modify and backwards engineer the software running on their machine... giving them full control over their hardware provided they have paid for the software. Modifying mIRC allows the user access to a visually appealing interface, translated resources into their own language, and even hardware optimizations that allow it to run smoother in a given environment.

But this right comes with the strictest of responsibilities... and that is NO modification may be distributed to another person under any circomstances, and especially not over a wide or public medium. Modifications must be made and fully acknowledged by the user making them. If the user knows nothing about modifying software, then they have no right to be using modified software. This simple rule is too often ignored.

I also appreciate the fact that restrictions typically only restrict the innocent, while dedicated bad guys will always circomvent these restrictions. So it becomes a cat/mouse game of "what's the point?". I'm not sure there's an answer to that, and I'm not sure I know all that lead up to Khaled's decision to add a redundancy check. For right now, it's probably best we just honor the restriction. You can also email him and ask more about it.

- Raccoon


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Good philosophy, see good in bad, I like!
#74077 06/03/04 10:49 PM
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np, mdock61.dll can only dock to where the toolbar/switchbar currently is, rebar.dll can dock top, bottom left and right.. but it's extremely buggy, so i recommended mdock.


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#74078 07/03/04 05:04 PM
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Welcome to the downfall of the internet. Everyone loves having the ability to change and personalize everything they use. I hardly see how having the ability to edit some aspects of the appearance of IRC has anything to do with editing the actual functions and releasing it as my own. The real flaw with your arguement is that no one except the original creator of IRC is recieving any money for it, so no actual law is being broken. As to your comment that you "believe there was a post stating people's opinions on the icons" all I could find were these 3.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

As the posts obviously show there are more then just a handfull of people that are asking for this. Also, those DLLs you provided were buggy and just plain garbage. There should be no need for addon programs to do what the original IRC could.

[mod note: fixed links, re: page width]

Last edited by d00dman; 08/03/04 07:49 PM.
#74079 07/03/04 05:23 PM
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custom switchbars are nowhere near as functional as mircs default and all those dll's you guys linked cant change channel, query, dcc, etc icons. they were very limited and nowhere near an answer.

note this post was made as a plea for new functionality in mirc, not half assed answers. mad

anyways, khaled, if you read this... a lot of us would really like to be able to customize all of the icons in mirc through the program, or have your protection not keep us from editing the internal icon/bitmap resources.

and about the whole editing the program file being illegal thing... theyre my bytes, i paid for them, ill do whatever the hell i want with them for my personal use.

id like to request that no more arguments be started here, as us customizers have said what we came here to say.

thanks! -jarod crazy

#74080 07/03/04 05:27 PM
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Thanks for the condescending reply smile

Firstly, mIRC != IRC, IRC does not have an icon or a real appearance. Nor does the original creator of IRC (Jarkko Oikarinen) get any money, except if it's simply donations saying "Thank you" - Khaled receives the money for the creation of mIRC.

None of those threads are the one I was referring to. I think LocutusofBorg had the right answers though, those being that if you don't like it, use another client or write your own. I get enough politics online, I am here to help people out, not to debate the politics of Khaled's choices in what he lets be customised. Point is, you can't do it through mIRC's features, it's been requested before and not added so it's unlikely to be in the future.

If you don't like the DLLs that are around and think they're "garbage" then that's tough luck and you'll have to make do with what you've got smile

Being rude to me/us is not going to get you anywhere though.

Regards,


Mentality/Chris
#74081 07/03/04 05:28 PM
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Quote:
and all those dll's you guys linked cant change channel, query, dcc, etc icons

i'm guessing you haven't read the documentation provided with mdx.dll smirk


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#74082 07/03/04 05:31 PM
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Quote:
Also, those DLLs you provided were buggy and just plain garbage.

mdx.dll and mdock.dll work perfectly fine for me, my custom switchbar is just as functional (just a tiny bit slower, barely noticeable) as mircs.
the main difference is that my icons change colour when channel events occur (quit/nick/text/join/part/etc) instead of the text.


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#74083 07/03/04 07:08 PM
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"Thanks for the condescending reply"

From your very first post you have had nothing but a condescending tone. I am also well aware of the difference between IRC and mIRC. Considering that has absolutly nothing to do with this conversation I am pretty sure its safe to assume you only brought it up to be an ass.

"None of those threads are the one I was referring to."

They weren't supposed to be the thread you were refering to. The point is I searched and couldn't find that thread, but found quite a few that asked for the same thing we are asking for.

"Being rude to me/us is not going to get you anywhere though"

I'd like you to find 1 statement from anyone that contains anything as rude as you have been.

"mdx.dll and mdock.dll work perfectly fine for me"

Then please explain why you would tell us its extremely buggy?

Regardless of any of this crap, you guys have been far from helpful. You simply saw us as some mIRC newbs coming into your forum and trying to boss you around. Next time try being less defensive, and maybe try to understand what people are saying instead of trying to think of some ultra-witty response. No matter what you say, having the ability to go in and change what the individual user wishes to change instead of fabricating what you want with some buggy DLL's will always be the way to go.


#74084 07/03/04 07:15 PM
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i didn't say half of those things, please try replying to the right person in future, thanks.

Quote:

"mdx.dll and mdock.dll work perfectly fine for me"

Then please explain why you would tell us its extremely buggy?


i actually said rebar.dll was very buggy, not mdock.dll and mdx.dll, try reading my posts before replying in future.


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