To a rational being only the irrational is unendurable, but the rational is endurable.
(Epictetus)

The following programs have been written by Michael McGoodwin (the "developer"), using Visual Basic 6 (VB6), VC++  6.0, Access 97, or Access 2007 as indicated, and were tested in Windows XP Professional and Windows 7.  These programs are copyrighted "freeware" available for downloading and running without charge, provided that they are not resold and that their origin is acknowledged.  While they are believed to be reliable and to perform as advertised, and have been extensively used on the developer's computers, they are provided "as is" with no guarantees as to their performance or any assurances that they will not damage your computer files or otherwise perform in an unexpected manner.  The prefix "VG" signifies "Vitrine Gardens", a company name applied by Michael McGoodwin to technical creations such as software. 

Some of these programs were begun in the mid- and late-1990s and are getting a bit old.  However, the developer continues to use most of these programs listed to good advantage in his own computing environment.

Access files with extension "ACCDB" designate Access 2007 or later files.  Access database files with extension "MD3" designate 32-bit Access 97 files.  Access database files developed prior to Access 2007 are more commonly given the extension MDB.

To install any of the programs listed below and that download as .exe files, your system temp folder must be on the same drive as your Windows NT operating system.  The downloadable programs are large because of the setup files they include— the actual application files are much smaller.

The graphical logos and signify that the program has been tested in and performs satisfactorily in Windows XP and Windows 7, respectively, as well as Windows 10.

Program Package	Description
Computers Database v. 4.5 7 September 2009 Size 500 KB	Computers DB is an integrated Access 2007 application program that facilitates storage and management of information about installed software, hardware, and external technical services.  For example, program locations, configurations, versions, command line switches, bugs, special techniques, communications and inquiries, etc. may be documented for one or more computers.  All source code and table and form properties (such as allowed field lengths) are viewable and potentially editable.  It is downloadable as a .ZIP archive file.  Instructions for use may be viewed in the Program Manual—this file includes screen shots. This database supercedes an earlier version for Access 97.
VG32 DLL  (setup file vg32dll.exe) 20 April 2005 Size: 1.5 MB Package includes: VG32.DLL v. 2.5, 17 Nov 2000 45 KB TestVG32DLL.exe v. 2.5, 17 Nov 2000 66 KB	VG32.DLL is a general purpose Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL) containing useful procedures for bit manipulation, integer manipulation, string manipulation, file time stamp, and miscellaneous other procedures that are hard to do in Visual Basic or that provide speed advantages or other benefits.  The procedures are callable as Function and Sub procedures from 32-Bit versions of VB, VBA, or MS Access.  This DLL a standard (non-OLE) DLL written in C and compiled most recently with VC++  6.0.  All functions and subroutines contained in VG32.DLL are fully documented in the Basic Declarations Listing (this is an HTML version of the .BAS file vg32decl.bas which is installed with TestVG32DLL.exe).  The installation package also includes TestVG32DLL.exe, a test program that demonstrates the functions and procedures of VG32.DLL by creating a file showing the results of testing each of its procedures.  The DLL and test program are downloadable as a self-extracting ZIP exe file and installed with a Setup program.  Additional instructions are in Readme.txt.  This DLL file is used by several of the programs on this page.
VG Archive Directory v. 2.4 20 April 2005 Size 1.5 MB	This utility program (VGArchDir.EXE) can be invoked within File Manager, Windows Explorer, or at a Command Prompt  to create a .ZIP archive file of the current directory (or some other user-specified directory) and which is placed in a subdirectory named "Archives".   It preserves the last 5 ZIP files so created per directory to provide multiple recent backups of a directory's contents.  It can recurse subdirectories below the directory requested.  It requires  WinZip32.exe (version 6.3 or later, not included).  VGArchDir is downloadable as a self-extracting ZIP exe file and installed with a Setup program.  Instructions for use are in the Program Manual webpage.
VGShowFQFS v. 1.1  20 April 2005 Size 1.4 MB	A compact but very useful utility that displays the fully qualified file specification or directory specification passed to it on the command line.  Use this program in a Send To shortcut or script file to drag to in order to display a fully qualified file or directory specification in both long and short formats.  Selections of this information may be copied to the clipboard in order to be pasted for documentation, etc.  This is similar to but not identical with the Windows feature "Copy as Path:". VGShowFQFS is downloadable as a ZIP archive file containing a setup.exe file. This program has been tested and performs successfully in Windows 7 and XP Professional.  Full instructions for use are in the Program Manual webpage.

If you wish to provide feedback including positive comments or suggestions, you may contact Michael McGoodwin at

MCM at McGoodwin period NET
   (please convert this spam-averse address to standard format before using)

Page www.mcgoodwin.net/pages/vgprogs.html
Created by Michael McGoodwin
Last update: 14 March 2023