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• How to Create a Custom Ubuntu Live CD or USB the Easy Way

  - by Chris Hoffman

  There are several different ways to create custom Ubuntu live CDs. We’ve covered using the Reconstructor web app in the past, but some commenters recommended the Ubuntu Customization Kit instead. It’s an open-source utility found in Ubuntu’s software repositories. UCK offers more powerful features than Reconstructor does, but Reconstructor makes most tasks easier for novice users. Be sure to take a look at Reconstructor, too. How To Be Your Own Personal Clone Army (With a Little Photoshop) How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume

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• How to Recover an Encrypted Home Directory on Ubuntu

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Access an encrypted home directory when you’re not logged in – say, from a live CD – and all you’ll see is a README file. You’ll need a terminal command to recover your encrypted files. You should also back up your mount passphrase ahead of time – you may need this in the future. While eCryptfs normally decrypts your files with your login passphrase, the mount passphrase may be necessary if eCryptfs’s files become lost. HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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• How To View and Write To System Log Files on Ubuntu

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Linux logs a large amount of events to the disk, where they’re mostly stored in the /var/log directory in plain text. Most log entries go through the system logging daemon, syslogd, and are written to the system log. Ubuntu includes a number of ways of viewing these logs, either graphically or from the command-line. You can also write your own log messages to the system log — particularly useful in scripts. How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

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• How to Change Your Default Applications on Ubuntu: 4 Ways

  - by Chris Hoffman

  There are several ways to change your default applications on Ubuntu. Whether you’re changing the default application for a particular task, file type, or a system-level application like your default text editor, there’s a different place to go. Unlike on Windows, applications won’t take over existing file extensions during the installation process — they’ll just appear as an option after you install them. How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?

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• How to Create a Separate Home Partition After Installing Ubuntu

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Ubuntu doesn’t use a separate /home partition by default, although many Linux users prefer one. Using a separate home partition allows you to reinstall Ubuntu without losing your personal files and settings. While a separate home partition is normally chosen during installation, you can also migrate to a separate home partition after installing Ubuntu – this takes a bit of work, though. HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization

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• How To Get Email Notifications Whenever Someone Logs Into Your Computer

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Do you have a computer that you don’t want other people accessing – perhaps a server? You can have Windows email you whenever someone logs into your computer (assuming it’s connected to the Internet), giving you peace of mind. We’ll be using the Windows Task Scheduler for this – it can send emails in response to a variety of events. The Task Scheduler’s built-in email feature isn’t as flexible as we’d like, so we’ll be using another tool. HTG Explains: How Windows Uses The Task Scheduler for System Tasks HTG Explains: Why Do Hard Drives Show the Wrong Capacity in Windows? Java is Insecure and Awful, It’s Time to Disable It, and Here’s How

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• 8 Ways to Tweak and Configure Sudo on Ubuntu

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Like most things on Linux, the sudo command is very configurable. You can have sudo run specific commands without asking for a password, restrict specific users to only approved commands, log commands run with sudo, and more. The sudo command’s behavior is controlled by the /etc/sudoers file on your system. This command must be edited with the visudo command, which performs syntax-checking to ensure you don’t accidentally break the file. HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization

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• How to Encrypt Your Home Folder After Installing Ubuntu

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Ubuntu offers to encrypt your home folder during installation. If you decline the encryption and change your mind later, you don’t have to reinstall Ubuntu. You can activate the encryption with a few terminal commands. Ubuntu uses eCryptfs for encryption. When you log in, your home directory is automatically decrypted with your password. While there is a performance penalty to encryption, it can keep private data confidential, particularly on laptops that may be stolen. HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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• How to Create a Portable Version of RocketDock for a USB Flash Drive

  - by Lori Kaufman

  RocketDock is a lightweight, highly customizable application launcher, or dock, for Windows. You can install it on your computer or use a portable version on a USB flash drive to provide quick access to your portable programs. We’ll show you how to make RocketDock portable. However, first you must install RocketDock before making it portable. See our article about installing, setting up, and using RocketDock. Once you have installed RocketDock, right-click anywhere on the dock or on the icons on the dock and select Dock Settings from the popup menu. HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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• Switch Gmail Icons Back to Text Labels

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If Gmail’s icon-based buttons annoy you, it’s now possible to switch them back to the old text labels with a simple settings toggle. At MakeUseOf they highlight the new option in Gmail and how you can switch back to the old button layout: So how do you make that happen? All you have to do is click on the cog button, choose “Settings”, and go to the the General tab. Scroll down to find the “Button labels” setting, and change it from icons to text. I know what I’ll be doing shortly; text-based button labels here I come. [via MakeUseOf] Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

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• The Best Application Launchers and Docks for Organizing Your Desktop

  - by Lori Kaufman

  Is your desktop so cluttered you can’t find anything? Is your Start menu so long you have to scroll to see what programs are there? If so, you probably need an application launcher to organize your desktop and make your life easier. We’ve created a list of many useful application launchers in different forms. You can choose from dock programs, portable application launchers, Start menu and Taskbar replacements, and keyboard-oriented launchers. HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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• How To Create a Shortcut That Lets a Standard User Run An Application as Administrator

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Want to allow a standard user account to run an application as administrator without a UAC or password prompt? You can easily create a shortcut that uses the runas command with the /savecred switch, which saves the password. Note that using /savecred could be considered a security hole – a standard user will be able to use the runas /savecred command to run any command as administrator without entering a password. However, it’s still useful for situations where this doesn’t matter much – perhaps you want to allow a child’s standard user account to run a game as Administrator without asking you. We’ve also covered allowing a user to run an application as Administrator with no UAC prompts by creating a scheduled task. HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using? HTG Explains: What The Windows Event Viewer Is and How You Can Use It HTG Explains: How Windows Uses The Task Scheduler for System Tasks

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• Screen Tweaker Swaps Windows 7 Logon Screen

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Windows: Free application Screen Tweaker makes it simple to swap out your logon screen wallpaper (as well as tweak other elements of the Windows logon screen). In addition to swapping out the wallpaper you can add and remove buttons, add text, and otherwise tweak the interface. Hit up the link below to grab a free copy. Windows 7 Logon Screen Tweaker [via Freeware Genius] How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage

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• SQL SERVER – 2011 – Wait Type – Day 25 of 28

  - by pinaldave

  Since the beginning of the series, I have been getting the following question again and again: “What are the changes in SQL Server 2011 – Denali with respect to Wait Types?” SQL Server 2011 – Denali is yet to be released, and making statements on the subject will be inappropriate. Denali CTP1 has been released so I suggest that all of you download the same and experiment on it. I quickly compared the wait stats of SQL Server 2008 R2 and Denali (CTP1) and found the following changes: Wait Types Exists in SQL Server 2008 R2 and Not Exists in SQL Server 2011 “Denali” SOS_RESERVEDMEMBLOCKLIST SOS_LOCALALLOCATORLIST QUERY_WAIT_ERRHDL_SERVICE QUERY_ERRHDL_SERVICE_DONE XE_PACKAGE_LOCK_BACKOFF Wait Types Exists in SQL Server 2011 and Not Exists in SQL Server 2008 SLEEP_MASTERMDREADY SOS_MEMORY_TOPLEVELBLOCKALLOCATOR SOS_PHYS_PAGE_CACHE FILESTREAM_WORKITEM_QUEUE FILESTREAM_FILE_OBJECT FILESTREAM_FCB FILESTREAM_CACHE XE_CALLBACK_LIST PWAIT_MD_RELATION_CACHE PWAIT_MD_SERVER_CACHE PWAIT_MD_LOGIN_STATS DISPATCHER_PRIORITY_QUEUE_SEMAPHORE FT_PROPERTYLIST_CACHE SECURITY_KEYRING_RWLOCK BROKER_TRANSMISSION_WORK BROKER_TRANSMISSION_OBJECT BROKER_TRANSMISSION_TABLE BROKER_DISPATCHER BROKER_FORWARDER UCS_MANAGER UCS_TRANSPORT UCS_MEMORY_NOTIFICATION UCS_ENDPOINT_CHANGE UCS_TRANSPORT_STREAM_CHANGE QUERY_TASK_ENQUEUE_MUTEX DBCC_SCALE_OUT_EXPR_CACHE PWAIT_ALL_COMPONENTS_INITIALIZED PREEMPTIVE_SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS_SLEEP SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS_INIT_MUTEX AM_INDBUILD_ALLOCATION QRY_PARALLEL_THREAD_MUTEX FT_MASTER_MERGE_COORDINATOR PWAIT_RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE_FT_PARALLEL_QUERY_SYNC REDO_THREAD_PENDING_WORK REDO_THREAD_SYNC COUNTRECOVERYMGR HADR_DB_COMMAND HADR_TRANSPORT_SESSION HADR_CLUSAPI_CALL PWAIT_HADR_CHANGE_NOTIFIER_TERMINATION_SYNC PWAIT_HADR_ACTION_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_OFFLINE_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_ONLINE_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_FORCEFAILOVER_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_WORKITEM_COMPLETED HADR_WORK_POOL HADR_WORK_QUEUE HADR_LOGCAPTURE_SYNC LOGPOOL_CACHESIZE LOGPOOL_FREEPOOLS LOGPOOL_REPLACEMENTSET LOGPOOL_CONSUMERSET LOGPOOL_MGRSET LOGPOOL_CONSUMER LOGPOOLREFCOUNTEDOBJECT_REFDONE HADR_SYNC_COMMIT HADR_AG_MUTEX PWAIT_SECURITY_CACHE_INVALIDATION PWAIT_HADR_SERVER_READY_CONNECTIONS HADR_FILESTREAM_MANAGER HADR_FILESTREAM_BLOCK_FLUSH HADR_FILESTREAM_IOMGR XDES_HISTORY XDES_SNAPSHOT HADR_FILESTREAM_IOMGR_IOCOMPLETION UCS_SESSION_REGISTRATION ENABLE_EMPTY_VERSIONING HADR_DB_OP_START_SYNC HADR_DB_OP_COMPLETION_SYNC HADR_LOGPROGRESS_SYNC HADR_TRANSPORT_DBRLIST HADR_FAILOVER_PARTNER XDESTSVERMGR GHOSTCLEANUPSYNCMGR HADR_AR_UNLOAD_COMPLETED HADR_PARTNER_SYNC HADR_DBSTATECHANGE_SYNC We already know that Wait Types and Wait Stats are going to be the next big thing in the next version of SQL Server. So now I am eagerly waiting to dig deeper in the wait stats. Read all the post in the Wait Types and Queue series. Note: The information presented here is from my experience and there is no way that I claim it to be accurate. I suggest reading Book OnLine for further clarification. All the discussion of Wait Stats in this blog is generic and varies from system to system. It is recommended that you test this on a development server before implementing it to a production server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Wait Stats, SQL Wait Types, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Generate Report for Index Physical Statistics – SSMS

  - by pinaldave

  Few days ago, I wrote about SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS (Link). A user asked me a question regarding if we can use similar reports to get the detail about Indexes. Yes, it is possible to do the same. There are similar type of reports are available at Database level, just like those available at the Server Instance level. You can right click on Database name and click Reports. Under Standard Reports, you will find following reports. Disk Usage Disk Usage by Top Tables Disk Usage by Table Disk Usage by Partition Backup and Restore Events All Transactions All Blocking Transactions Top Transactions by Age Top Transactions by Blocked Transactions Count Top Transactions by Locks Count Resource Locking Statistics by Objects Object Execute Statistics Database Consistency history Index Usage Statistics Index Physical Statistics Schema Change history User Statistics Select the Reports with name Index Physical Statistics. Once click, a report containing all the index names along with other information related to index will be visible, e.g. Index Type and number of partitions. One column that caught my interest was Operation Recommended. In some place, it suggested that index needs to be rebuilt. It is also possible to click and expand the column of partitions and see additional details about index as well. DBA and Developers who just want to have idea about how your index is and its physical statistics can use this tool. Click to Enlarge Note: Please note that I will rebuild my indexes just because this report is recommending it. There are many other parameters you need to consider before rebuilding indexes. However, this tool gives you the accurate stats of your index and it can be right away exported to Excel or PDF writing by clicking on the report. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Utility, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Four Posts on Removing the Bookmark Lookup – Key Lookup

  - by pinaldave

  In recent times I have observed that not many people have proper understanding of what is bookmark lookup or key lookup. Increasing numbers of the questions tells me that this is something developers are encountering every single day but have no idea how to deal with it. I have previously written three articles on this subject. I want to point all of you looking for further information on the same post. SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup – Part 2 SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup – Part 3 SQL SERVER – Interesting Observation – Execution Plan and Results of Aggregate Concatenation Queries In one of my recent class we had in depth conversation about what are the alternative of creating covering indexes to remove the bookmark lookup. I really want to this question open to all of you and see what community thinks about the same. Is there any other way then creating covering index or included index to remove his expensive keylookup? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Index, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4

  - by pinaldave

  If you are still using SQL Server 2005 – I suggest that you consider migrating to later version of the SQL Server 2008/2008 R2. Due to any reason, you wanted to continue using SQL Server 2005, I suggest that you take a look at the Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4. There are many different tools and features available in pack, which can be very handy and can solve issues. Microsoft ADOMD.NET Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 Microsoft OLEDB Provider for DB2 Microsoft SQL Server Management Pack for MOM 2005 Microsoft SQL Server 2000 PivotTable Services Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DTS Designer Components Microsoft SQL Server Native Client Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services 9.0 OLE DB Provider Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Command Line Query Utility Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Datamining Viewer Controls Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management Objects Collection Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Notification Services Client Components Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Advisor Microsoft .NET Data Provider for mySAP Business Suite, Preview Version Reporting Add-In for Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Microsoft Exception Message Box Data Mining Managed Plug-in Algorithm API for SQL Server 2005 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007 SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer Download Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4 Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Service Pack, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine knows the Best

  - by pinaldave

  This is followup post of my earlier article SQL SERVER – Convert IN to EXISTS – Performance Talk, after reading all the comments I have received I felt that I could write more on the same subject to clear few things out. First let us run following four queries, all of them are giving exactly same resultset. USE AdventureWorks GO -- use of = SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID = ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- use of in SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID IN ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- use of exists SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE EXISTS ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- Use of Join SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E INNER JOIN HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA ON E.EmployeeID = EA.EmployeeID GO Let us compare the execution plan of the queries listed above. Click on image to see larger image. It is quite clear from the execution plan that in case of IN, EXISTS and JOIN SQL Server Engines is smart enough to figure out what is the best optimal plan of Merge Join for the same query and execute the same. However, in the case of use of Equal (=) Operator, SQL Server is forced to use Nested Loop and test each result of the inner query and compare to outer query, leading to cut the performance. Please note that here I no mean suggesting that Nested Loop is bad or Merge Join is better. This can very well vary on your machine and amount of resources available on your computer. When I see Equal (=) operator used in query like above, I usually recommend to see if user can use IN or EXISTS or JOIN. As I said, this can very much vary on different system. What is your take in above query? I believe SQL Server Engines is usually pretty smart to figure out what is ideal execution plan and use it. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Joins, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine Knows the Best – Part 2

  - by pinaldave

  This blog post is part 2 of the earlier written article SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine knows the Best by Paulo R. Pereira. Paulo has left excellent comment to earlier article once again proving the point that SQL Server Engine is smart enough to figure out the best plan itself and uses the same for the query. Let us go over his comment as he has posted. “I think IN or EXISTS is the best choice, because there is a little difference between ‘Merge Join’ of query with JOIN (Inner Join) and the others options (Left Semi Join), and JOIN can give more results than IN or EXISTS if the relationship is 1:0..N and not 1:0..1. And if I try use NOT IN and NOT EXISTS the query plan is different from LEFT JOIN too (Left Anti Semi Join vs. Left Outer Join + Filter). So, I found a case where EXISTS has a different query plan than IN or ANY/SOME:” USE AdventureWorks GO -- use of SOME SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID = SOME ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) -- use of IN SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID IN ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) -- use of EXISTS SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE EXISTS ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) When looked into execution plan of the queries listed above indeed we do get different plans for queries and SQL Server Engines creates the best (least cost) plan for each query. Click on image to see larger images. Thanks Paulo for your wonderful contribution. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, Readers Contribution, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Joins, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• How to Upgrade Your Netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium

  - by Matthew Guay

  Would you like more features and flash in Windows on your netbook?  Here’s how you can easily upgrade your netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium the easy way. Most new netbooks today ship with Windows 7 Starter, which is the cheapest edition of Windows 7.  It is fine for many computing tasks, and will run all your favorite programs great, but it lacks many customization, multimedia, and business features found in higher editions.  Here we’ll show you how you can quickly upgrade your netbook to more full-featured edition of Windows 7 using Windows Anytime Upgrade.  Also, if you want to upgrade your laptop or desktop to another edition of Windows 7, say Professional, you can follow these same steps to upgrade it, too. Please note: This is only for computers already running Windows 7.  If your netbook is running XP or Vista, you will have to run a traditional upgrade to install Windows 7. Upgrade Advisor First, let’s make sure your netbook can support the extra features, such as Aero Glass, in Windows 7 Home Premium.  Most modern netbooks that ship with Windows 7 Starter can run the advanced features in Windows 7 Home Premium, but let’s check just in case.  Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (link below), and install as normal. Once it’s installed, run it and click Start Check.   Make sure you’re connected to the internet before you run the check, or otherwise you may see this error message.  If you see it, click Ok and then connect to the internet and start the check again. It will now scan all of your programs and hardware to make sure they’re compatible with Windows 7.  Since you’re already running Windows 7 Starter, it will also tell you if your computer will support the features in other editions of Windows 7. After a few moments, the Upgrade Advisor will show you want it found.  Here we see that our netbook, a Samsung N150, can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. We also see that we had one issue, but this was because a driver we had installed was not recognized.  Click “See all system requirements” to see what your netbook can do with the new edition. This shows you which of the requirements, including support for Windows Aero, your netbook meets.  Here our netbook supports Aero, so we’re ready to go upgrade. For more, check out our article on how to make sure your computer can run Windows 7 with Upgrade Advisor. Upgrade with Anytime Upgrade Now, we’re ready to upgrade our netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium.  Enter “Anytime Upgrade” in the Start menu search,and select Windows Anytime Upgrade. Windows Anytime Upgrade lets you upgrade using product key you already have or one you purchase during the upgrade process.  And, it installs without any downloads or Windows disks, so it works great even for netbooks without DVD drives. Anytime Upgrades are cheaper than a standard upgrade, and for a limited time, select retailers in the US are offering Anytime Upgrades to Windows 7 Home Premium for only $49.99 if purchased with a new netbook.  If you already have a netbook running Windows 7 Starter, you can either purchase an Anytime Upgrade package at a retail store or purchase a key online during the upgrade process for $79.95.  Or, if you have a standard Windows 7 product key (full or upgrade), you can use it in Anytime upgrade.  This is especially nice if you can purchase Windows 7 cheaper through your school, university, or office. Purchase an upgrade online To purchase an upgrade online, click “Go online to choose the edition of Windows 7 that’s best for you”.   Here you can see a comparison of the features of each edition of Windows 7.  Note that you can upgrade to either Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate.  We chose home Premium because it has most of the features that home users want, including Media Center and Aero Glass effects.  Also note that the price of each upgrade is cheaper than the respective upgrade from Windows XP or Vista.  Click buy under the edition you want.   Enter your billing information, then your payment information.  Once you confirm your purchase, you will directly be taken to the Upgrade screen.  Make sure to save your receipt, as you will need the product key if you ever need to reinstall Windows on your computer. Upgrade with an existing product key If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit from a retailer, or already have a Full or Upgrade key for another edition of Windows 7, choose “Enter an upgrade key”. Enter your product key, and click Next.  If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit, the product key will be located on the inside of the case on a yellow sticker. The key will be verified as a valid key, and Anytime Upgrade will automatically choose the correct edition of Windows 7 based on your product key.  Click Next when this is finished. Continuing the Upgrade process Whether you entered a key or purchased a key online, the process is the same from here on.  Click “I accept” to accept the license agreement. Now, you’re ready to install your upgrade.  Make sure to save all open files and close any programs, and then click Upgrade. The upgrade only takes about 10 minutes in our experience but your mileage may vary.  Any available Microsoft updates, including ones for Office, Security Essentials, and other products, will be installed before the upgrade takes place. After a couple minutes, your computer will automatically reboot and finish the installation.  It will then reboot once more, and your computer will be ready to use!  Welcome to your new edition of Windows 7! Here’s a before and after shot of our desktop.  When you do an Anytime Upgrade, all of your programs, files, and settings will be just as they were before you upgraded.  The only change we noticed was that our pinned taskbar icons were slightly rearranged to the default order of Internet Explorer, Explorer, and Media Player.  Here’s a shot of our desktop before the upgrade.  Notice that all of our pinned programs and desktop icons are still there, as well as our taskbar customization (we are using small icons on the taskbar instead of the default large icons). Before, with the Windows 7 Starter background and the Aero Basic theme: And after, with Aero Glass and the more colorful default Windows 7 background.   All of the features of Windows 7 Home Premium are now ready to use.  The Aero theme was activate by default, but you can now customize your netbook theme, background, and more with the Personalization pane.  To open it, right-click on your desktop and select Personalize. You can also now use Windows Media Center, and can play-back DVD movies using an external drive. One of our favorite tools, the Snipping Tool, is also now available for easy screenshots and clips. Activating you new edition of Windows 7 You will still need to activate your new edition of Windows 7.  To do this right away, open the start menu, right-click on Computer, and select Properties.   Scroll to the bottom, and click “Activate Windows Now”. Make sure you’re connected to the internet, and then select “Activate Windows online now”. Activation may take a few minutes, depending on your internet connection speed. When it is done, the Activation wizard will let you know that Windows is activated and genuine.  Your upgrade is all finished! Conclusion Windows Anytime Upgrade makes it easy, and somewhat cheaper, to upgrade to another edition of Windows 7.  It’s useful for desktop and laptop owners who want to upgrade to Professional or Ultimate, but many more netbook owners will want to upgrade from Starter to Home Premium or another edition.  Links Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Windows Team Blog: Anytime Upgrade Special with new PC purchase Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips How To Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium EditionAnother Blog You Should Subscribe ToMysticgeek Blog: Turn Vista Home Premium Into Ultimate (Part 3) – Shadow CopyUpgrade Ubuntu from Breezy to DapperHow to Upgrade the Windows 7 RC to RTM (Final Release) TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Get Your Delicious Bookmarks In Firefox’s Awesome Bar Manage Photos Across Different Social Sites With Dropico Test Drive Windows 7 Online Download Wallpapers From National Geographic Site Spyware Blaster v4.3 Yes, it’s Patch Tuesday

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• SQLAuthority News – A Successful Performance Tuning Seminar at Pune – Dec 4-5, 2010

  - by pinaldave

  This is report to my third of very successful seminar event on SQL Server Performance Tuning. SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar in Colombo was oversubscribed with total of 35 attendees. You can read the details over here SQLAuthority News – SQL Server Performance Optimizations Seminar – Grand Success – Colombo, Sri Lanka – Oct 4 – 5, 2010. SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar in Hyderabad was oversubscribed with total of 25 attendees. You can read the details over here SQL SERVER – A Successful Performance Tuning Seminar – Hyderabad – Nov 27-28, 2010. The same Seminar was offered in Pune on December 4,-5, 2010. We had another successful seminar with lots of performance talk. This seminar was attended by 30 attendees. The best part of the seminar was that along with the our agenda, we have talked about following very interesting concepts. Deadlocks Detection and Removal Dynamic SQL and Inline Code SQL Optimizations Multiple OR conditions and performance tuning Dynamic Search Condition Building and Improvement Memory Cache and Improvement Bottleneck Detections – Memory, CPU and IO Beginning Performance Tuning on Production Parametrization Improving already Super Fast Queries Convenience vs. Performance Proper way to create Indexes Hints and Disadvantages I had great time doing the seminar and sharing my performance tricks with all. The highlight of this seminar was I have explained the attendees, how I begin doing performance tuning when I go for Performance Tuning Consultations.   Pinal Dave at SQL Performance Tuning Seminar SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar Pinal Dave at SQL Performance Tuning Seminar Pinal Dave at SQL Performance Tuning Seminar SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar SQL Server Performance Tuning Seminar This seminar series are 100% demo oriented and no usual PowerPoint talk. They are created from my experiences of various organizations for performance tuning. I am not planning any more seminar this year as it was great but I am booked currently for next 60 days at various performance tuning engagements. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Training, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Standard Reports from SQL Server Management Studio – SQL in Sixty Seconds #016 – Video

  - by pinaldave

  SQL Server management Studio 2012 is wonderful tool and has many different features. Many times, an average user does not use them as they are not aware about these features. Today, we will learn one such feature. SSMS comes with many inbuilt performance and activity reports, but we do not use it to the full potential. Connect to SQL Server Node >> Right Click on it >> Go to Reports >> Click on Standard Reports >> Pick Any Report. Please note that some of the reports can be IO intensive and not suggested to run during business hours! More on Standard Reports: SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS SQL SERVER – Generate Report for Index Physical Statistics – SSMS SQL SERVER – Configure Management Data Collection in Quick Steps I encourage you to submit your ideas for SQL in Sixty Seconds. We will try to accommodate as many as we can. If we like your idea we promise to share with you educational material. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Database, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL in Sixty Seconds, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology, Video

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• SQL SERVER – Activity Monitor and Performance Issue

  - by pinaldave

  We had wonderful SQLAuthority News – Community Tech Days – December 11, 2010 event yesterday. After the event, we had meeting among Jacob Sebastian, Vinod Kumar, Rushabh Mehta and myself. We all were sharing our experience about performance tuning consultations. During the conversation, Jacob has shared wonderful story of his recent observation. The story is very small but the moral of the story is very important. The story is about a client, who had continuously performance issues. Client used Activity Monitor (Read More: SQL SERVER – 2008 – Location of Activity Monitor – Where is SQL Serve Activity Monitor Located) to check the performance issues. The pattern of the performance issues was very much common all the time. Every time, after a while the computer stopped responding. After doing in-depth performance analysis, Jacob realized that client once opened activity monitor never closed it. The same activity monitor itself is very expensive process. The tool, which helped to debug the performance issues, also helped (negatively) to bring down the server. After closing the activity monitor which was open for long time, the server did not have performance issues. Moral of the story: Activity Monitor is great tool but use it with care and close it when not needed. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant V6.0 Released

  - by Pinal Dave

  Every company makes a different decision about the database when they start, but as they move forward they mature and make the decision which is based on their experience and best interest of the organization. Similarly, quite a many organizations make different decisions on database, like Sybase, MySQL, Oracle or Access and as time passes by they learn that now they want to move to a different platform. Microsoft makes it easy for SQL Server professional by releasing various Migration Assistant tools. Last week, Microsoft released Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0. Here are different tools released earlier last week to migrate various product to SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Sybase SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for MySQL SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from MySQL to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Oracle SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Oracle to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Access SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Access to SQL Server. SSMA for Access automates conversion of Microsoft Access database objects to SQL Server database objects, loads the objects into SQL Server and Azure SQL DB, and then migrates data from Microsoft Access to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: SQL Migration

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• SQL SERVER – Concat Function in SQL Server – SQL Concatenation

  - by pinaldave

  Earlier this week, I was delivering Advanced BI training on the subject of “SQL Server 2008 R2″. I had great time delivering the session. During the session, we talked about SQL Server 2010 Denali. Suddenly one of the attendees suggested his displeasure for the product. He said, even though, SQL Server is now in moving very fast and have proved many times a good enterprise solution, it does not have some basic functions. I naturally asked him for example and he suggested CONCAT() which exists in MySQL and Oracle. The answer is very simple – the equalent function in SQL Server to CONCAT() is ‘+’ (plus operator without quotes). Method 1: Concatenating two strings SELECT 'FirstName' + ' ' + 'LastName' AS FullName Method 2: Concatenating two Numbers SELECT CAST(1 AS VARCHAR(10)) + 'R' + CAST(2 AS VARCHAR(10)) Method 3: Concatenating values from table columns SELECT FirstName + ' ' + LastName FROM AdventureWorks.Person.Contact Well, this may look very simple but sometime it is very difficult to find the information for simple things only. Do you have any such example which you would like to share with community? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL String, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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