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• dvd drive I/O error?

  - by bobby

  i get dis error evry time i burn a cd/dvd thru my dvd drive...!! Nero Burning ROM bobby 4C85-200E-4005-0004-0000-7660-0800-35X3-0000-407M-MX37-**** (*) Windows XP 6.1 IA32 WinAspi: - NT-SPTI used Nero Version: 7.11.3. Internal Version: 7, 11, 3, (Nero Express) Recorder: Version: UL01 - HA 1 TA 1 - 7.11.3.0 Adapter driver: HA 1 Drive buffer : 2048kB Bus Type : default CD-ROM: Version: 52PP - HA 1 TA 0 - 7.11.3.0 Adapter driver: HA 1 === Scsi-Device-Map === === CDRom-Device-Map === ATAPI-CD ROM-DRIVE-52MAX F: CdRom0 HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N G: CdRom1 ======================= AutoRun : 1 Excluded drive IDs: WriteBufferSize: 83886080 (0) Byte BUFE : 0 Physical memory : 958MB (981560kB) Free physical memory: 309MB (317024kB) Memory in use : 67 % Uncached PFiles: 0x0 Use Inquiry : 1 Global Bus Type: default (0) Check supported media : Disabled (0) 11.6.2010 CD Image 10:43:02 AM #1 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 450 LockMCN - completed sucessfully for IOCTL_STORAGE_MCN_CONTROL 10:43:02 AM #2 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 3186 HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N Buffer underrun protection activated 10:43:02 AM #3 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 3500 Turn on Disc-At-Once, using CD-R/RW media 10:43:02 AM #4 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 307 Last possible write address on media: 359848 ( 79:59.73) Last address to be written: 318783 ( 70:52.33) 10:43:02 AM #5 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 319 Write in overburning mode: NO (enabled: CD) 10:43:02 AM #6 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 2988 Recorder: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM G SA-H12N; CDR co de: 00 97 27 18; O SJ entry from: Pla smon Data systems Ltd. ATIP Data: Special Info [hex] 1: D0 00 A0, 2: 61 1B 12 (LI 97:27.18), 3: 4F 3B 4A ( LO 79:59.74) Additional Info [hex] 1: 00 00 00 (invalid), 2: 00 00 00 (invalid), 3: 00 0 0 00 (invalid) 10:43:02 AM #7 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 493 Protocol of DlgWaitCD activities: TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048, config 0, wanted index0 0 blocks, length 318784 blo cks [G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N] -------------------------------------------------------------- 10:43:02 AM #9 Text 0 File ThreadedTransferInterface.cpp, Line 986 Prepare [G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N] for write in CUE-sheet-DAO DAO infos: ========== MCN: "" TOCType: 0x00; Se ssion Clo sed, disc fixated Tracks 1 to 1: Idx 0 Idx 1 Next T rk 1: TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048/0x00, FilePos 0 307200 6531768 32, ISRC "" DAO layout: =========== ___Start_|____Track_|_Idx_|_CtrlAdr_|_____Size_|______NWA_|_RecDep__________ -150 | lead-in | 0 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 -150 | 1 | 0 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 0 | 1 | 1 | 0x41 | 318784 | 318784 | 0x00 318784 | lead-out | 1 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 10:43:02 AM #10 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 240 SPTILockVolume - completed successfully for FSCTL_LOCK_VOLUME 10:43:02 AM #11 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 4286 Caching options: cache CDRom or Network-Yes, small files-Yes ( ON 10:43:03 AM #19 Text 0 File MMC.cpp, Line 18034 CueData, Len=32 41 00 00 14 00 00 00 00 41 01 00 10 00 00 00 00 41 01 01 10 00 00 02 00 41 aa 01 14 00 46 34 22 10:43:03 AM #20 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 268 Pipe memory size 83836800 10:43:16 AM #21 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1405 10:43:16.806 - G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N : Queue again later 10:43:42 AM #22 SPTI -1502 File SCSIPassThrough.cpp, Line 181 CdRom1: SCSIStatus(x02) WinError(0) NeroError(-1502) Sense Key: 0x04 (KEY_HARDWARE_ERROR) Nero Report 2 Nero Burning ROM Sense Code: 0x08 Sense Qual: 0x03 CDB Data: 0x2A 00 00 00 4D 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 Sense Area: 0x70 00 04 00 00 00 00 10 53 29 A1 80 08 03 Buffer x0c7d9a40: Len x10000 0xDC 87 EB 41 6E AC 61 5A 07 B2 DB 78 B5 D4 D9 24 0x8D BC 51 38 46 56 0F EE 16 15 5C 5B E3 B0 10 16 0x14 B1 C3 6E 30 2B C4 78 15 AB D5 92 09 B7 81 23 10:43:42 AM #23 CDR -1502 File Writer.cpp, Line 306 DMA-driver error, CRC error G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N 10:43:55 AM #24 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1767 Burn process failed at 48x (7,200 KB/s) 10:43:55 AM #25 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 287 SPTIDismountVolume - completed successfully for FSCTL_DISMOUNT_VOLUME 10:44:01 AM #26 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 11412 DriveLocker: UnLockVolume completed 10:44:01 AM #27 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 450 UnLockMCN - completed sucessfully for IOCTL_STORAGE_MCN_CONTROL Existing drivers: Registry Keys: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon Nero Report 3

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• Bizarre and very specific Internet connection loss

  - by Synetech

  Yesterday (Friday, September 21, 2012), my Internet connection started acting up. After some testing, I confirmed a very specific and baffling set of symptoms: Internet connection goes away every 25-35 minutes (I did not confirm the exact interval, but it seems to be about 30 mins.) Only some protocols are affected; HTTP*, P2P, etc. stop working; FTP, etc. continue to work When it’s stopped, cannot even ping router or cable-modem IPs or view their firmware pages Domain-names and IPs are irrelevant (for protocols that stop working, neither work, for those that still work, both work) Resetting router fixes it for another 30 minutes Keeping the connection idle or active doesn’t seem to make a difference (nor the bandwidth usage in that period) Connecting directly to cable-modem allows it to work indefinitely Disconnecting the router from the cable-modem works indefinitely (no Internet connection obviously, but can still access router IP and firmware page) Connecting the router to the cable-modem, but putting the modem on standby also works indefinitely Same problem with both a wireless laptop and wired (on any port) desktop (both Windows 7; will try to test Windows XP when possible) Nothing had changed in the days leading up to the issue. No modifications to the networking configuration or the router; there were not even any Windows updates except for an MSSE definition update. Waiting does not fix it, nor does any amount of fiddling with anything; only resetting the router fixes it for 30 minutes (resetting the cable-modem doesn't work either) I tried cleaning the pins in the router’s plugs, but that didn’t help, which was not really a surprise since I was not getting a lost connection error. Obviously my first thought was that the router was having a problem, and this is borne out by some tests. The problem is that when it drops, it is not a full drop since I can still do things like ftp ftp.mcafee.com and such which means that the connection and DNS are still working. Moreover, if it were the router, then why does it stay alive indefinitely when not connected to the cable-modem (i.e., no outside influence)? The problem doesn't seem to be either the cable-modem nor the router, but rather an interaction between the two, like something from the outside (port scan? hacker? ISP?) that is triggering a problem in the router. I see that there have been a couple of vulnerabilities for the DI-524, but those were a while back and should be fixed since I have the last firmware for it. I don’t think it’s my ISP (Rogers) since I have been using the router for several years without problem and can connect indefinitely when bypassing it. But I can’t rule them out since that is one of the only possible things that could have suddenly changed. Does anybody have any ideas of explanations, fixed, or tests? (I note that when I opened the router, I heard a very high-pitched noise from somewhere near the capacitors/ferrite ring which I don’t think I heard the last time I opened it a few years ago, but then if it were that, then why would it affect only a very small, specific set of functions?)

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• Strange Upload Problem on Hyper-V

  - by Ring0

  Hi, This one is driving me totally nuts. I have being trying to upload a file to www.virustotal.com (its a harmless exe I have since found out - DiskWipe.exe from diskwipe.org). Using IE8. From Win 7 and Win 2008 R2 Datacenter (which I select to boot from vhd's) onto my main machine hardware, and also on another Win 7 PC elsewhere on my network, when I upload the file to virustotal.com it works perfectly. So, using my native NIC's everything is fine. Using another machine also perfect. Right. OK, from my boot menu the default is my main development machine - the one I'm typing on now. This runs on the metal and has Hyper-V role and I have some guests. All guests are not running. Amazingly, from my console (root partition to be exact) or any guest OS 2003 /XP / 2008 R2 etc. My upload to virustotal.com slows at 32% then HANGS at 38.something% & never finishes!! Here is the kicker. I have another box (my main server) running Hyper-V on the metal and three live guests. Identical H/W to my main dev machine in another room. (Except OS is Datacenter - Mine is Enterprise). If I try and upload from its bare metal console or any guest this file to virustotal.com using IE8 it stops exactly in the same place!! As for "steps I have tried etc." are kind-of blown out of the water as my server box is doing the precise same thing as the machine in my room here. OK, comonalities: Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58-UD5, 12GB Kingston RAM, Corei7 920 4 cores hyperthreading = 8 & Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC's. All 3 machines have this same motherboard - revision F11 Bios, all have 12GB RAM, all have the Realtek Nic's. All x64 by the way as I mentioned before I have a Win 7 box also with the UD5 m/Board, 12 GB RAM - bit of an overkill. :-) All these machines when NOT running Hyper-V can upload this file. Perhaps you may like to try it on a Hyepr-v (2008 R2) yourselves with IE8 and the desktop experience is on. See if it works or fails for you. Root OS or any guest. So, looking like its the NIC + Hyper-V = Cannot upload this file (any file I must add.) Realtek Nic is Ver 7.002.1125.2008. Using IE8 I see in the nic settings there are the usual parameters for Jumbo frames / Checksum offloading etc. several others. Should I fiddle with these? I ran Netmon 3.3 in a guest and the TCP session halted as the upload failed. I suppose I could study that further. I dont have Netmon on the root partition machine (yet)! All OS's fully patched - including todays defender files. My box running Office 2007 - but identical server in another room is not. Also, if I fire up a VPN to a distant client and do the upload it works! Of course its a different network path. Suggestions welcome please. If I left out anything important - please yell at me. Many Thanks,

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• How to set up a centralized backup server with lots of offsite workstations, intermittent internet connectivity, and stubborn users?

  - by Zac B

  This might be an impossible question. Context: We have a bunch of computers across around 1000 users. We have a centralized office where 900 of the users work, most of the time. Most of the computers are laptops. They are very frequently coming on and off the network for hours at a time. Users often take their computers home and do lots of work from home. In addition, there are a handful of users who work elsewhere in the country, who are offline (no internet connection whatsoever) for more than half of the time they use their machines. All of the machines are Windows 7/XP. Problem: People are always losing data. One day someone accidentally deletes a bunch of files. The next day someone else installs a bad driver or tries to mess with something in system32 and needs a personal data backup/reinstall of Windows. Because of how many of our business operations are done without an internet connection, and how frequently computers come on- and offline, it's unfeasible to make users use network storage for all of their data. We tried giving them Dropboxes, and they stored their files elsewhere. We bought and deployed Altiris, and they uninstalled it and blamed us when they couldn't get files back that they accidentally deleted while they were offline and hadn't taken a backup in months. We tried teaching them backup best-practices, and using scheduled sync tools to upload things to the network drives, and they turned them off because they "looked like viruses". It doesn't help that many of these users are pretty high up in the business and are not amicable to any sort of "you need to do something regularly because we say so" solution. Question: Other than finding another job where IT is treated differently and users are willing to follow best practices, how would people recommend I implement a file backup solution that supports the following: Backs up to a centralized server over LAN or WAN whenever a network link becomes available, or on a schedule. Supports interrupted/resumed backups (and hopefully file-delta only backups), since connections to the network (WAN or LAN) are often slow and only open for half an hour or so. Supports relatively rapid, "I accidentally deleted the TPS reports! Oh no!" single-file recovery, ideally administered from the central backup server rather than the client PC. Supports local-to-local file delta backup on a schedule, so that users without a network connection for a few days can still retrieve accidental deletions or whatnot. Ideally, the local stored backups would be pushed up to the server whenever network link is available. Isn't configurable on the clients without certain credentials. Because the CFOs (who won't give up their admin rights on the domain) will disable it if they can. Backs up the entire hard drive. There are people who are self-righteous about storing things in C:\, or in the recycle bin, or in the C:\Windows dir (yes, I know). I'm fine integrating multiple products/solutions, or scripting different programs together myself (I'm a somewhat competent programmer), but I've been drawing a blank on where to start. Dropbox is folder-specific, Altiris doesn't cope with LAN outages or interrupted/resumed backups, Volume Shadow Copy is awesome for a local-to-local solution, but I don't know how to push days of stored shadow copies up to a server in a 2 hour window of network access. The company is fine with spending decent money on this, thousands (USD) on a server, and hundreds on clients, if necessary. I want to emphasize that this isn't a shopping list request. While I wish there was a program out there that did what I want, I've looked pretty hard, and not found anything that fits the bill. Instead, I'm hoping for ideas on where to start hacking things together from scratch/from different technologies to make something stable that works. Cheers!

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• Moving users folder on Windows-7 to another partition - bad idea?

  - by Donat

  Hi, I'd like to re-submit here a question posted by Benjol on Aug 17at 5:57 "Moving users folder on Windows Vista to another partition - bad idea?" (I can't post one than one link until I earn "10 reputation" and removed my "answer" there to post my follow-up questions here). I am anxiously getting ready at long last to to carry out a clean install (using custom install option) from Vista to Windows-7 Home Premium 64bit with the free upgrade I received late October. For my Vista system I successfully set-up last Summer a multi-partitions scheme with Users and Program Data on a a different partition than the operating system (see link below, and its subsequent links in my comment for details). http://tuts4tech.net/2009/08/05/windows-7-move-the-users-and-program-files-directories-to-a-different-partition/comment-page-1/#comment-562 I was planning a similar set-up for windows 7, a little more streamlined, with OS, Program Files on C:, Users and Program Data on D:, and TV media recording on a separate partition. Reading the Question submitted by Benjol, I am second guessing too. Is moving Users and Program Data on a different partition than the default primary partition with OS and Program Files such a good idea? The couple of people I talked to at the official Microsoft Windows 7 booth at CES 2010 gave the same answer to the intention of moving the Users profile folder to another partition. In a nutshell, they all told me that they used to do this in XP and less in Vista but not anymore with Windows 7... "It is stable, after two months still no problem" I had the feeling it was a scripted answer to emphasize how Windows 7 is so stable and efficient... (Will Windows-7 system not become bugged down over the course of several months to a year or two? Only time will tell) Long story short, I share the same view than Benjol expressed with respect to being "able to backup and restore system and user data independently." I just received a 2TB usb2, eSATA external hard drive as a back-up drive, which includes NTI Shadow 4 (4.1.0.150) for back-up solution. I took note of the issue with NTUSER.DAT and I will read more about Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for Windows 7. I am willing to put the effort if placing Users and Program Data on a different partition would allow to restore a fresher OS+Program image when the system gets bugged down. Questions: Is it such a bad idea? What is the "easy route" referred by Benjol in his post? Is it to just relocate folders to another partition using the Folder property tool? (It is not practical for several users and might not provide a straightforward restore process of just OS and Program Files when needed.) I am starting to learn about Windows 7 libraries. Would Windows 7 libraries be another alternative to achieve this? All this reading to decide how to organize the partition scheme for my custom system is starting to be confusing. I apologize for this lengthy Question. It is my first day here on SuperUser and I am just learning how different from a discussion thread it is. Thank you in advance for all your suggestions and comments. Donat

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• SELF-SOLVED AutoHotkey Function GetMouseTaskbutton need to adapt for 64-bit OS

  - by auntyEEK

  SOLVED VIA SELF-HELP, HAIR-PULLING, AND TEETH-GRINDING. THANKS ANYWAY....... I'm using the GetMouseTaskbutton function from this thread on AHK forum. [http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic22763.html&highlight=getmousetaskbutton][1] ; Gets the index+1 of the taskbar button which the mouse is hovering over. ; Returns an empty string if the mouse is not over the taskbar's task toolbar. ; ; Some code and inspiration from Sean's TaskButton.ahk GetMouseTaskButton(ByRef hwnd) { MouseGetPos, x, y, win, ctl, 2 ; Check if hovering over taskbar. WinGetClass, cl, ahk_id %win% if (cl != "Shell_TrayWnd") return ; Check if hovering over a Toolbar. WinGetClass, cl, ahk_id %ctl% if (cl != "ToolbarWindow32") return ; Check if hovering over task-switching buttons (specific toolbar). hParent := DllCall("GetParent", "Uint", ctl) WinGetClass, cl, ahk_id %hParent% if (cl != "MSTaskSwWClass") return WinGet, pidTaskbar, PID, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd hProc := DllCall("OpenProcess", "Uint", 0x38, "int", 0, "Uint", pidTaskbar) pRB := DllCall("VirtualAllocEx", "Uint", hProc , "Uint", 0, "Uint", 20, "Uint", 0x1000, "Uint", 0x4) VarSetCapacity(pt, 8, 0) NumPut(x, pt, 0, "int") NumPut(y, pt, 4, "int") ; Convert screen coords to toolbar-client-area coords. DllCall("ScreenToClient", "uint", ctl, "uint", &pt) ; Write POINT into explorer.exe. DllCall("WriteProcessMemory", "uint", hProc, "uint", pRB+0, "uint", &pt, "uint", 8, "uint", 0) ; SendMessage, 0x447,,,, ahk_id %ctl% ; TB_GETHOTITEM SendMessage, 0x445, 0, pRB,, ahk_id %ctl% ; TB_HITTEST btn_index := ErrorLevel ; Convert btn_index to a signed int, since result may be -1 if no 'hot' item. if btn_index 0x7FFFFFFF btn_index := -(~btn_index) - 1 if (btn_index > -1) { ; Get button info. SendMessage, 0x417, btn_index, pRB,, ahk_id %ctl% ; TB_GETBUTTON VarSetCapacity(btn, 20) DllCall("ReadProcessMemory", "Uint", hProc , "Uint", pRB, "Uint", &btn, "Uint", 20, "Uint", 0) state := NumGet(btn, 8, "UChar") ; fsState pdata := NumGet(btn, 12, "UInt") ; dwData ret := DllCall("ReadProcessMemory", "Uint", hProc , "Uint", pdata, "UintP", hwnd, "Uint", 4, "Uint", 0) } else hwnd = 0 DllCall("VirtualFreeEx", "Uint", hProc, "Uint", pRB, "Uint", 0, "Uint", 0x8000) DllCall("CloseHandle", "Uint", hProc) ; Negative values indicate seperator items. (abs(btn_index) is the index) return btn_index > -1 ? btn_index+1 : 0 } It identifies the owner of the hovered taskbar button. I'm using it in a routine to auto-activate window by hovering its taskbar button, and also a routine to close inactive window by middle-click on its taskbar button. Works great on my XP machine. The author had stated that the function does work in Vista, but it refuses to work for me in Vista 64-bit, so apparently it is only valid in 32-bit. And I am very new to AHK, and don't know how to adapt it. Unfortunately, my queries at the site sank without a trace. Does anyone have advice for me? I will be most grateful. Thanks.

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• SQL2008R2 install issues on windows 7 - unable to install setup support files?

  - by Liam

  I am trying to install the above but am getting the following errors when its attempting to install the setup support files, This is the first error that occurs during installation of the setup support files TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup ------------------------------ The following error has occurred: The installer has encountered an unexpected error. The error code is 2337. Could not close file: Microsoft.SqlServer.GridControl.dll GetLastError: 0. Click 'Retry' to retry the failed action, or click 'Cancel' to cancel this action and continue setup. For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=10.50.1600.1&EvtType=0xDF039760%25401201%25401 This is the second error that occurs after clicking continue in the installer after the first error is generated TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup ------------------------------ The following error has occurred: SQL Server Setup has encountered an error when running a Windows Installer file. Windows Installer error message: The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance. Windows Installer file: C:\Users\watto_uk\Desktop\In-Digital\Software\Microsoft\SQL Server 2008 R2\1033_ENU_LP\x64\setup\sqlsupport_msi\SqlSupport.msi Windows Installer log file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20110713_205508\SqlSupport_Cpu64_1_ComponentUpdate.log Click 'Retry' to retry the failed action, or click 'Cancel' to cancel this action and continue setup. For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=10.50.1600.1&EvtType=0xDC80C325 These errors are generated from an ISO package downloaded from Microsoft. I have also tried using the web platform installer to install the express version instead but the SQL Server Installation fails with that also. The management studio installs fine but not the server. I have checked to make sure that the Windows Installer is started and it is. Cant seem to find an answer for this anywhere as all previous reported issues appear to be related to XP. I did have the express edition installed on the machine previously but uninstalled it to upgrade to the full version, I wish I hadn't now. Can anyone kindly offer any advice or point me in the right direction to stop me going insane with this? Any advice will be appreciated. Update======================= After digging a bit deeper ive located details of the error from the setup log file, i can also upload the log file if required. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:18:705]: Assembly Error:The module '%1' was expected to contain an assembly manifest. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:18:705]: Note: 1: 1935 2: 3: 0x80131018 4: IStream 5: Commit 6: MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:18:705]: Note: 1: 2337 2: 0 3: Microsoft.SqlServer.GridControl.dll MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:22:869]: Product: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup (English) -- Error 2337. The installer has encountered an unexpected error. The error code is 2337. Could not close file: Microsoft.SqlServer.GridControl.dll GetLastError: 0. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:22:916]: Internal Exception during install operation: 0xc0000005 at 0x000007FEE908A23E. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:22:916]: WER report disabled for silent install. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:22:932]: Internal MSI error. Installer terminated prematurely. Error 2337. The installer has encountered an unexpected error. The error code is 2337. Could not close file: Microsoft.SqlServer.GridControl.dll GetLastError: 0. MSI (s) (E8:28) [23:35:22:932]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603 MSI (s) (E8:58) [23:35:22:932]: RESTART MANAGER: Session closed. Installer stopped prematurely. MSI (c) (0C:14) [23:35:22:947]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1 MSI (c) (0C:14) [23:35:22:947]: MainEngineThread is returning 1601 === Verbose logging stopped: 13/07/2011 23:35:22 ===

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• How to get ISA 2006 Web Proxy to work with the Single Network Adapter template

  - by tronda

  I need to test an issue with running our application behind a proxy server with different type of configurations, so I installed ISA 2006 Enterprise on a desktop computer. Since this computer only has a single network card and I want to start out easy, I chose the "Single Network Adapter" template. We have a internal NAT'ed network which is in the 10 range. I have defined the internal network on the ISA server to be 10.XXX.YY.1 - 10.XXX.YY.255 I also have the Default rule which denies all traffic, but I've added the following Rule: Policy - Protocols - From - To Accept HTTP Internal External HTTPS Local Host Internal HTTS Server Localhost Then I configured Internet Explorer on a virutal machine running XP within virtualbox with Brigded network (gets same network address range as regular computers on our network) similar to this Instead of the server name I used the IP address. When I try to access a web page, this doesn't go through and I get the following log messages on the proxy server: Original Client IP Client Agent Authenticated Client Service Referring Server Destination Host Name Transport HTTP Method MIME Type Object Source Source Proxy Destination Proxy Bidirectional Client Host Name Filter Information Network Interface Raw IP Header Raw Payload GMT Log Time Source Port Processing Time Bytes Sent Bytes Received Cache Information Error Information Authentication Server Log Time Client IP Destination IP Destination Port Protocol Action Rule Result Code HTTP Status Code Client Username Source Network Destination Network URL Server Name Log Record Type 10.XXX.YY.174 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:24 1080 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:24 10.XXX.YY.174 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Initiated Connection MyHTTPAccess 0x0 ERROR_SUCCESS Internal Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:24 2275 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:24 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Initiated Connection 0x0 ERROR_SUCCESS Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:25 2275 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:25 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Closed Connection 0x80074e20 FWX_E_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:25 2276 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:25 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Initiated Connection 0x0 ERROR_SUCCESS Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:26 2276 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:26 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Closed Connection 0x80074e20 FWX_E_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:26 2277 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:26 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Initiated Connection 0x0 ERROR_SUCCESS Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.159 - UDP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:26 68 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:26 10.XXX.YY.159 255.255.255.255 67 DHCP (request) Denied Connection [Enterprise] Default rule 0xc004000d FWX_E_POLICY_RULES_DENIED Internal Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 10.XXX.YY.166 - UDP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:26 68 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:26 10.XXX.YY.166 255.255.255.255 67 DHCP (request) Denied Connection [Enterprise] Default rule 0xc004000d FWX_E_POLICY_RULES_DENIED Internal Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall 0.0.0.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729) Yes Proxy 10.XXX.YY.175 TCP GET Internet - - - Req ID: 096c76ae; Compression: client=No, server=No, compress rate=0% decompress rate=0% - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:27 0 2945 2581 446 0x0 0x40 24.08.2010 06:25:27 10.XXX.YY.174 10.XXX.YY.175 80 http Failed Connection Attempt MyHTTPAccess 10061 anonymous Internal Local Host http://www.vg.no/ PROXYTEST Web Proxy Filter 10.XXX.YY.175 - TCP - - - 24.08.2010 13:25:27 2277 0 0 0 0x0 0x0 - 24.08.2010 06:25:27 10.XXX.YY.175 10.XXX.YY.175 80 HTTP Closed Connection 0x80074e20 FWX_E_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN Local Host Local Host - PROXYTEST Firewall

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• Installing .NET Framework 4 Client Profile breaks Windows Update

  - by Richard

  I have a Samsung NC-10 netbook with a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (it only had 2GB). If Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile is installed on it, Windows Update will always return error code 8024402F ("Windows Update encountered an unknown error"). As soon as I uninstall it, Windows Update works just fine again. Out of the four computers in this house, only this netbook has the problem. My question is: How can I get the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile installed on my netbook and continue to have a functioning Windows Update? ----- More information ----- The hard-drive recently died on my netbook so I replaced it with a nice new SSD and did a fresh installation of Windows 7 Home Premium (SP1) - along with all the updates. At some point I found that, when I ran Windows Update, I was greeted with error code 8024402F ("Windows Update encountered an unknown error"). Looking in C:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log, I saw the following issue: WARNING: ECP: Failed to validate cab file digest downloaded from http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/dflt/2012/02/4913552_4a5c9563d1f58c77f30d0d5c9999e4b8bff3ab21.cab with error 0x80091007 WARNING: ECP: This roundtrip contained some optimized updates which failed. New Update count = 0, Old Count = 3 FATAL: ProcessCoreMetadata did not return any update to be committed WARNING: Sync of Updates: 0x8024402f WARNING: SyncServerUpdatesInternal failed: 0x8024402f When I downloaded the CAB from the URL listed and opened it, it contained a file called 4913552.txt. A search on Google suggested that it's related to Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Other people had reported problems with it breaking Windows Update, but they were running Windows XP. I tried the steps outlined on the Microsoft site for this error code, but it reported that there was nothing wrong. I also found this superuser question, I tried all the answers listed but none of them made any difference. My router doesn't block ActiveX, changing my internet settings in IE made no difference, assuming it was a corrupted update repository didn't do anything (except wipe my update history), my date and time was correct, switching to Google's DNS didn't work and neither did disabling IPv6. Figuring that this update was corrupted, I repaired it and nothing changed. In desperation I un-installed it and Windows Update started working again! Brilliant! I then downloaded the full version from the Microsoft website, installed it and, thankfully, Windows Update continued to work just fine. A week later I turn on my netbook and Windows Update is broken again with exactly the same error message and log entries as before. Repairing .NET Framework 4 Client Profile did nothing, removing it entirely solved the problem again. Thinking this might be some odd Windows installation issue, I formatted the hard-drive and re-installed Windows. Same problem as before - as soon as .NET Framework 4 Client Profile ended up on the netbook, Windows Update stopped working and reported error 8024402F. As soon as it was un-installed, everything worked just fine again. There are three other machines in this house and all of them have working Windows Update and this Client Profile. Does anyone know why it causes this netbook to break and, more importantly, how I can fix it?

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• Symantec Protection Suite and System Recovery 2011 Desktop Edition

  - by rihatum

  I am re-posting this as my previous question was being treated as if I am "Shopping or seeking Product Recommendations" even though I was NOT - BTW they have deleted my comments too which were not offensive in nature. anyway - I have re-phrased some parts of my question and I hope SF Admins "Do Not Modify / Edit" this one - will be most grateful for that. I have a lot of respect for the People who visit this SITE and help others ! Just To clarify : Just to go by SF rules - I am not seeking someone to Design this solution, I am simply seeking real world examples, experiences, technical expert opinions / suggestions, any tips or tricks they may have or any problems they may have faced while doing something similar above with these products. I am also not asking for Capacity Planning for Storage, We have done some research and I am seeking Expert Assurance / Suggestions. We (our company) are planning to deploy Symantec Endpoint Protection and Symantec Desktop Recovery 2011 Desktop Edition to our 3000 - 4000 workstations (Windows7 32 and 64) with a few 100s with Windows XP 32/64 Bit. I have read the implementation guide for SEP and have read tech-notes for Desktop Recovery 2011. Our team have planned to deploy this as follows : 1 x dedicated SQL 2008R2 for Symantec Endpoint Protection (Instead of using the Embedded Database) 1 x Dedicated SQL 2008R2 for Symantec Desktop Recovery 2011 (Instead of using the Embedded Database) 1 x Dedicated W2K8 R2 Box for the SEPM (Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager - Mgmt. APP) 1 x Dedicated W2K8 R2 Box for the Symantec Desktop Recovery 2011 Management Application Agent Deployment : As per Symantec Documentation for both of the above, an agent can be pushed via the Mgmt. Application (provided no firewalls are blocking ports required etc. - we have Windows firewall disabled already). Server Hardware : Per SQL Server : 16GB RAM + SAS DISKS + Dual XEON, RAID-10 for the SQL DB or I can always mount a LUN from our existing Hitachi or EMC SAN. SEPM Server : 16GB RAM + SAS DISKS + DUAL XEON System Recovery MGMT SERVER : 16GB RAM + SAS DISKS + DUAL XEON Above is the initial plan we have for 3000 - 4000 client workstation (Windows) Now my Questions :-) a) If we had these users distributed amongst two sites with AD DC / GC in each site, How would I restrict SEPM and Desktop Mgmt. solution to only check for users in their respective site ? b) At present all users are under one building but we are going to move some dept. to a new location (with dedicated connectivity), How would we control which SEPM / MGMT Server is responsible for which site ? c) We have netbackup in our environment backing up other servers, I am planning to protect these 4 (2 x SQL, 1 x SEPM, 1 x System Recovery Mgmt. Server) via netbackup or I can use System recovery 2011 server edition on all 4 of these boxes as well. (License is not an issue as we have the complete symantec portfolio included in our license). d) Now - Saving Desktop backups - What strategies have you implemented ? Any best practice recommendation for a large user base ? I was thinking to either mount a LUN from our Hitachi SAN on the Symantec Recovery Server itself or backup to the users hard drive locally and then copy it over to a network location ? Suggestions welcome :-) If you have anything to add / correct - that will be really helpful before diving into the actual implementation phase. Will be most grateful with your suggestions, recommendations and corrections with above - Many Thanks !

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• Hour-long shutdown duration "shutting down hyper-v virtual machine management service"

  - by icelava

  I have a Windows 2008 R2 server that is a Hyper-V host (Dell PowerEdge T300). Today for the first time I encountered an odd situation; i lost connection with one of the guest machines but logging on physically it seems the guest OS is still running but no longer contactable via the network. I tried to shut down the guest machine (Windows XP) but it would not shut down, getting stuck in a "Not responding" dialog box that cannot be dismissed. I used the Hyper-V management console to reset the machine and it could not get out of resetting state. I tried to save another Windows 2003 guest machine, and it would be progress with its Saving state (0%). The other running Windows 2003 guest was stuck in the logon dialog. My first suspicion is perhaps one of the Windows update patches this week (10 Nov 2011) may something to do with it, which was still pending a system restart. Well, since I could not do anything with Hyper-V i proceeded with the Windows Update restart, and now it is stuck half an hour at "Shutting down hyper-v virtual machine management service" Prior to restarting I did not observe any hard disk errors reported in the system event log; doubt it is a disk-related condition. Shall I force a hard reboot? UPDATE Ok so i left it hanging over an hour while attending to other matters, and thankfully the host cleanly restarted. I can operate the guest machines fine now. Phew. Hyper-V must have been crawling for some reason. The VMs have been observed to become slow in the past when the host has been up for a long duration (two weeks to a month), but never this slow. Would love to know what types of performance monitoring items i can observe to give a hint why this can happen. UPDATE 2012-02-13 In the months ever since, Hyper-V has stalled into this state another two times. It appears so randomly and without any error event logs to hint what is causing it enter this "drunkard" state. Just an Hyper-V management service timeout. Log Name: System Source: Service Control Manager Date: 13/2/2012 9:16:48 AM Event ID: 7043 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: elune Description: The Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management service did not shut down properly after receiving a preshutdown control. Event Xml: <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"> <System> <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" /> <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7043</EventID> <Version>0</Version> <Level>2</Level> <Task>0</Task> <Opcode>0</Opcode> <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords> <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-02-13T01:16:48.882901900Z" /> <EventRecordID>567844</EventRecordID> <Correlation /> <Execution ProcessID="764" ThreadID="8484" /> <Channel>System</Channel> <Computer>elune</Computer> <Security /> </System> <EventData> <Data Name="param1">Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management</Data> </EventData> </Event> The only means out of it is to restart the system.

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• Windows Media Player won't launch on Vista - how to repair or reinstall it?

  - by rpm1200

  My friend asked me to look at her Acer Aspire laptop with Vista Home Premium as it is no longer playing DVDs. I found that Windows Media Player would not launch. I found this thread, which contained a number of suggestions, none of which solved the problem. Here is what I tried: Tried running WMP via desktop shortcut, QuickLaunch bar or going to Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe. In all cases, wmplayer would launch then terminate immediately (verified through the Processes tab in Task Manager). Tried running wmplayer.exe as Administrator. The UAC dialog would come up, I'd approve, then wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Uninstalled all non-Microsoft media programs except RealPlayer, iTunes, QuickTime, Acer Arcade (the laptop owner uses all those apps). Tried running Program Files\Windows Media Player\setup_wm.exe as Administrator, it launched but said that a newer version of WMP was already installed. Deleted the "Windows Media" folder located under %userprofile%\appdata\local\Microsoft then tried starting WMP - wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Register wmp.dll by typing "regsvr32 wmp.dll" in an Administrator cmd window then tried starting WMP - wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Run "SFC /SCANFILE" in an Administrator cmd window - get an error message that it found invalid system files and could not fix them, so look at the log file cbs.log. The log file shows that there are broken files associated with Windows Sidebar (which the user does not use) but none relating to WMP. Log off to safe mode and run "SFC /SCANFILE" in an Administrator cmd window again - same results. Try to download and install XP WMP - the microsoft.com site recognizes the OS as Genuine and allows the download, but when I launch the installer it says the system is not Genuine. Clicking the link directs me back to IE where I can authenticate the system as Genuine. The installer still fails to recognize the system as Genuine. It is a Genuine Vista installation. Try to run this update (KB931621). The installer said it did not apply to the system. Set Windows Media Player as default in Program Access and Defaults. Same results. Tried running "for %a in (%systemroot%\system32\wm*.dll) do regsvr32 /s %a" in an Administrator cmd window - same results. Went to this Knowledge Base article (947541) and ran the Microsoft Fix It. The Fix It ran successfully, but WMP would still launch and terminate immediately. Multiple reboots in the process of doing all of these steps. After all this, looked in the Application and Security logs. No events pertaining to WMP were logged. The computer was preinstalled with Vista Home Premium and I have the Acer backup DVDs which will reimage the drive. I do not have Vista install DVDs. Reimaging the system is not an option. I'd also rather not restore the system to an earlier point unless it's absolutely necessary. What else can I do to repair or reinstall WMP?

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• Windows Media Player won't launch on Vista - how to repair or reinstall it?

  - by rpm1200

  My friend asked me to look at her Acer Aspire laptop with Vista Home Premium as it is no longer playing DVDs. I found that Windows Media Player would not launch. I found this thread, which contained a number of suggestions, none of which solved the problem. Here is what I tried: Tried running WMP via desktop shortcut, QuickLaunch bar or going to Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe. In all cases, wmplayer would launch then terminate immediately (verified through the Processes tab in Task Manager). Tried running wmplayer.exe as Administrator. The UAC dialog would come up, I'd approve, then wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Uninstalled all non-Microsoft media programs except RealPlayer, iTunes, QuickTime, Acer Arcade (the laptop owner uses all those apps). Tried running Program Files\Windows Media Player\setup_wm.exe as Administrator, it launched but said that a newer version of WMP was already installed. Deleted the "Windows Media" folder located under %userprofile%\appdata\local\Microsoft then tried starting WMP - wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Register wmp.dll by typing "regsvr32 wmp.dll" in an Administrator cmd window then tried starting WMP - wmplayer would launch and terminate immediately. Run "SFC /SCANFILE" in an Administrator cmd window - get an error message that it found invalid system files and could not fix them, so look at the log file cbs.log. The log file shows that there are broken files associated with Windows Sidebar (which the user does not use) but none relating to WMP. Log off to safe mode and run "SFC /SCANFILE" in an Administrator cmd window again - same results. Try to download and install XP WMP - the microsoft.com site recognizes the OS as Genuine and allows the download, but when I launch the installer it says the system is not Genuine. Clicking the link directs me back to IE where I can authenticate the system as Genuine. The installer still fails to recognize the system as Genuine. It is a Genuine Vista installation. Try to run this update (KB931621). The installer said it did not apply to the system. Set Windows Media Player as default in Program Access and Defaults. Same results. Tried running "for %a in (%systemroot%\system32\wm*.dll) do regsvr32 /s %a" in an Administrator cmd window - same results. Went to this Knowledge Base article (947541) and ran the Microsoft Fix It. The Fix It ran successfully, but WMP would still launch and terminate immediately. Multiple reboots in the process of doing all of these steps. After all this, looked in the Application and Security logs. No events pertaining to WMP were logged. The computer was preinstalled with Vista Home Premium and I have the Acer backup DVDs which will reimage the drive. I do not have Vista install DVDs. Reimaging the system is not an option. I'd also rather not restore the system to an earlier point unless it's absolutely necessary. What else can I do to repair or reinstall WMP?

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• Lockdown users on Windows Server 2012

  - by el.severo

  I set up a Active Directory on a server machine with Windows Server 2012 and I'd like to create some users with limitations like Windows Steady State does in Windows XP (locally). Seen already the Windows SteadyState Handbook (with Windows Server 2008), but I'd like to know if anyone has tried this before, the limitations are the following: 1. Prevent locked or roaming user profiles that cannot be found on the computer from logging on 2. Do not cache copies of locked or roaming user profiles for users who have previously logged on to this computer 3. Do not allow Windows to compute and store passwords using LAN Manager Hash values 4. Do not store usernames or passwords used to log on to the Windows Live ID or the domain 5. Prevent users from creating folders and files on drive C:\ 6. Lock profile to prevent the user from making permanent changes 7. Remove the Control Panel, Printer and Network Settings from the Classic Start menu 8. Remove the Favorites icon 9. Remove the My Network Places icon 10. Remove the Frequently Used Program list 11. Remove the Shared documents folder from My Computer 12. Remove control Panel icon 13. Remove the Set Program Access and Defaults icon 14. Remove the Network Connection(Connect To)icon 15. Remove the Printers and Faxes icon 16. Remove the Run icon 17. Prevent access to Windows Explorer features: Folder Options, Customize Toolbar, and the Notification Area 18. Prevent access to the taskbar 19. Prevent access to the command prompt 20. Prevent access to the registry editor 21. Prevent access to the Task Manager 22. Prevent access to Microsoft Management Console utilities 23. Prevent users from adding or removing printers 24. Prevent users from locking the computer 25. Prevent password changes (also requires the Control Panel icon to be removed) 26. Disable System Tools and other management programs 27. Prevent users from saving files to the desktop 28. Hide A Drive 29. Hide B Drive 30. Hide C Drive 31. Prevent changes to Internet Explorer registry settings 32. Empty the Temporary Internet Files folder when Internet Explorer is closed 33. Remove Internet Options 34. Remove General tab in Internet Options 35. Remove Security tab in Internet Options 36. Remove Privacy tab in Internet Options 37. Remove Content tab in Internet Options 38. Remove Connections tab in Internet Options 39. Remove Programs tab in Internet Options 40. Remove Advanced tab in Internet Options 41. Set a home page (Internet Explorer) 42. Restrict the possibility to change desktop image 43. Restrict the possibility to change wallpaper 44. Restrict usb flash drives Any suggestions for this? UPDATE: As @Dan suggested me I'd like to specify that would be applied to a educational scenario where students can login from a computer and want to add some restrictions to them.

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• Week in Geek: LastPass Rescues Xmarks Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to breathe new life into an aging Windows Mobile 6.x device, use filters in Photoshop, backup and move VirtualBox machines, use the BitDefender Rescue CD to clean an infected PC, and had fun setting up a pirates theme on our computers. Photo by _nash. Weekly Feature Do you love using the Faenza icon set on your Ubuntu system but feel that there are a few much needed icons missing (or you desire a different version of a particular icon)? Then you may want to take a look at the Faenza Variants icon pack. The icons are available in the following sizes: 16px, 22px, 32px, 48px and scalable sizes. Photo by Asian Angel. Faenza Variants Random Geek Links Another week with extra link goodness to help keep you on top of the news. Photo by Asian Angel. LastPass acquires Xmarks, premium service announced Xmarks announced that it has been acquired by LastPass, a cross-platform password management service. This also means that Xmarks is now in transition from a “free” to a “freemium” business model. WikiLeaks reappears on European Net domains WikiLeaks has re-emerged on a Swiss Internet domain followed by domains in Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands, sidestepping a move that had in effect taken the controversial site off the Internet. Iran: Yes, Stuxnet hurt our nuclear program The Stuxnet worm got some big play from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who acknowledged that the malware dinged his nuclear program. More Windows Rogues than Just AV – Fake Defragmenter Check Disk Don’t think for a second that rogues are limited to scareware, because as so-called products such as “System Defragmenter”, “Scan Disk” “Check Disk” prove, they’re not. Internet Explorer’s Protected Mode can be bypassed Researchers from Verizon Business have now described a way of bypassing Protected Mode in IE 7 and 8 in order to gain access to user accounts. Can you really see who viewed your Facebook profile? Rogue application spreads virally Once again, a rogue application is spreading virally between Facebook users pretending to offer you a way of seeing who has viewed your profile. More holes in Palm’s WebOS Researchers Orlando Barrera and Daniel Herrera, who both work for security firm SecTheory, have discovered a gaping security hole in Palm’s WebOS smartphone operating system. Next-gen banking Trojans hit APAC With the proliferation of banking Trojans, Web and smartphone users of online banking services have to be on constant alert to avoid falling prey to fraud schemes, warned Etay Maor, project manager for RSA Fraud Action. AVG update cripples 64-bit computers A signature update automatically deployed by the AVG virus scanner Thursday has crippled numerous computers. Article includes link to forums to fix computers affected after a restart. Congress moves to outlaw ‘mystery charges’ for Web shoppers Legislation that makes it illegal for Web merchants and so-called post-transaction marketers to charge credit cards without the card owners’ say-so came closer to becoming law this week. Ballmer Set to “Look Into” Windows Home Server Drive Extender Fiasco Tuesday’s announcement from Microsoft regarding the removal of Drive Extender from Windows Home Server has sent shock waves across the web. Google tweaks search recipe to ding scam artists Google has changed its search algorithm to penalize sites deemed to provide an “extremely poor user experience” following a New York Times story on a merchant who justified abusive behavior towards customers as a search-engine optimization tactic. Geek Video of the Week Watch as our two friends debate back and forth about the early adoption of new technology through multiple time periods (Stone Age to the far future). Will our reluctant friend finally succumb to the temptation? Photo by CollegeHumor. Early Adopters Through History Random TinyHacker Links Fix Issues in Windows 7 Using Reliability Monitor Learn how to analyze Windows 7 errors and then fix them using the built-in reliability monitor. Learn About IE Tab Groups Tab groups is a useful feature in IE 8. Here’s a detailed guide to what it is all about. Google’s Book Helps You Learn About Browsers and Web A cool new online book by the Google Chrome team on browsers and the web. TrustPort Internet Security 2011 – Good Security from a Less Known Provider TrustPort is not exactly a well-known provider of security solutions. At least not in the consumer space. This review tests in detail their latest offering. How the World is Using Cell phones An infographic showing the shocking demographics of cell phone use. Super User Questions See the great answers to these questions from Super User. I am unable to access my C drive. It says it is unable to display current owner. List of Windows special directories/shortcuts like ‘%TEMP%’ Is using multiple passes for wiping a disk really necessary? How can I view two files side by side in Notepad++ Is there any tool that automatically puts screenshots to my Dropbox? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Look through our hottest articles from this past week at How-To Geek. How to Create a Software RAID Array in Windows 7 9 Alternatives for Windows Home Server’s Drive Extender Why Doesn’t Disk Cleanup Delete Everything from the Temp Folder? Ask the Readers: How Much Do You Customize Your Operating System? How to Upload Really Large Files to SkyDrive, Dropbox, or Email One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy reading through these awesome articles from one year ago. How To Upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium Edition How To Fix No Aero Transparency in Windows 7 Troubleshoot Startup Problems with Startup Repair Tool in Windows 7 & Vista Rename the Guest Account in Windows 7 for Enhanced Security Disable Error Reporting in XP, Vista, and Windows 7 The Geek Note That wraps things up here for this week. Regardless of the weather wherever you may be, we hope that you have an opportunity to get outside and have some fun! Remember to keep sending those great tips in to us at [email protected]. Photo by Tony the Misfit. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Get the Complete Android Guide eBook for Only 99 Cents [Update: Expired] Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 7: Design and Typography How to Choose What to Back Up on Your Linux Home Server How To Harmonize Your Dual-Boot Setup for Windows and Ubuntu Hang in There Scrat! – Ice Age Wallpaper How Do You Know When You’ve Passed Geek and Headed to Nerd? On The Tip – A Lamborghini Theme for Chrome and Iron What if Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner were Human? [Video] Peaceful Winter Cabin Wallpaper Store Tabs for Later Viewing in Opera with Tab Vault

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• How To Activate Your Free Office 2007 to 2010 Tech Guarantee Upgrade

  - by Matthew Guay

  Have you purchased Office 2007 since March 5th, 2010?  If so, here’s how you can activate and download your free upgrade to Office 2010! Microsoft Office 2010 has just been released, and today you can purchase upgrades from most retail stores or directly from Microsoft via download.  But if you’ve purchased a new copy of Office 2007 or a new computer that came with Office 2007 since March 5th, 2010, then you’re entitled to an absolutely free upgrade to Office 2010.  You’ll need enter information about your Office 2007 and then download the upgrade, so we’ll step you through the process. Getting Started First, if you’ve recently purchased Office 2007 but haven’t installed it, you’ll need to go ahead and install it before you can get your free Office 2010 upgrade.  Install it as normal.   Once Office 2007 is installed, run any of the Office programs.  You’ll be prompted to activate Office.  Make sure you’re connected to the internet, and then click Next to activate. Get your Free Upgrade to Office 2010 Now you’re ready to download your upgrade to Office 2010.  Head to the Office Tech Guarantee site (link below), and click Upgrade now. You’ll need to enter some information about your Office 2007.  Check that you purchased your copy of Office 2007 after March 5th, select your computer manufacturer, and check that you agree to the terms. Now you’re going to need the Product ID number from Office 2007.  To find this, open Word or any other Office 2007 application.  Click the Office Orb, and select Options on the bottom. Select the Resources button on the left, and then click About. Near the bottom of this dialog, you’ll see your Product ID.  This should be a number like: 12345-123-1234567-12345   Go back to the Office Tech Guarantee signup page in your browser, and enter this Product ID.  Select the language of your edition of Office 2007, enter the verification code, and then click Submit. It may take a few moments to validate your Product ID. When it is finished, you’ll be taken to an order page that shows the edition of Office 2010 you’re eligible to receive.  The upgrade download is free, but if you’d like to purchase a backup DVD of Office 2010, you can add it to your order for $13.99.  Otherwise, simply click Continue to accept. Do note that the edition of Office 2010 you receive may be different that the edition of Office 2007 you purchased, as the number of editions has been streamlined in the Office 2010 release.  Here’s a chart you can check to see what edition you’ll receive.  Note that you’ll still be allowed to install Office on the same number of computers; for example, Office 2007 Home and Student allows you to install it on up to 3 computers in the same house, and your Office 2010 upgrade will allow the same. Office 2007 Edition Office 2010 Upgrade You’ll Receive Office 2007 Home and Student Office Home and Student 2010 Office Basic 2007Office Standard 2007 Office Home and Business 2010 Office Small Business 2007Office Professional 2007Office Ultimate 2007 Office Professional 2010 Office Professional 2007 AcademicOffice Ultimate 2007 Academic Office Professional Academic 2010 Sign in with your Windows Live ID, or create a new one if you don’t already have one. Enter your name, select your country, and click Create My Account.  Note that Office will send Office 2010 tips to your email address; if you don’t wish to receive them, you can unsubscribe from the emails later.   Finally, you’re ready to download Office 2010!  Click the Download Now link to start downloading Office 2010.  Your Product Key will appear directly above the Download link, so you can copy it and then paste it in the installer when your download is finished.  You will additionally receive an email with the download links and product key, so if your download fails you can always restart it from that link. If your edition of Office 2007 included the Office Business Contact Manager, you will be able to download it from the second Download link.  And, of course, even if you didn’t order a backup DVD, you can always burn the installers to a DVD for a backup.   Install Office 2010 Once you’re finished downloading Office 2010, run the installer to get it installed on your computer.  Enter your Product Key from the Tech Guarantee website as above, and click Continue. Accept the license agreement, and then click Upgrade to upgrade to the latest version of Office.   The installer will remove all of your Office 2007 applications, and then install their 2010 counterparts.  If you wish to keep some of your Office 2007 applications instead, click Customize and then select to either keep all previous versions or simply keep specific applications. By default, Office 2010 will try to activate online automatically.  If it doesn’t activate during the install, you’ll need to activate it when you first run any of the Office 2010 apps.   Conclusion The Tech Guarantee makes it easy to get the latest version of Office if you recently purchased Office 2007.  The Tech Guarantee program is open through the end of September, so make sure to grab your upgrade during this time.  Actually, if you find a great deal on Office 2007 from a major retailer between now and then, you could also take advantage of this program to get Office 2010 cheaper. And if you need help getting started with Office 2010, check out our articles that can help you get situated in your new version of Office! Link Activate and Download Your free Office 2010 Tech Guarantee Upgrade Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Remove Office 2010 Beta and Reinstall Office 2007Upgrade Office 2003 to 2010 on XP or Run them Side by SideCenter Pictures and Other Objects in Office 2007 & 2010Change the Default Color Scheme in Office 2010Show Two Time Zones in Your Outlook 2007 Calendar 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 HippoRemote Pro 2.2 Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Windows Media Player Plus! – Cool WMP Enhancer Get Your Team’s World Cup Schedule In Google Calendar Backup Drivers With Driver Magician TubeSort: YouTube Playlist Organizer XPS file format & XPS Viewer Explained Microsoft Office Web Apps Guide

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• Week in Geek: 4chan Falls Victim to DDoS Attack Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to tweak the low battery action on a Windows 7 laptop, access an eBook collection anywhere in the world, “extend iPad battery life, batch resize photos, & sync massive music collections”, went on a reign of destruction with Snow Crusher, and had fun decorating our desktops with abstract icon collections. Photo by pasukaru76. Random Geek Links We have included extra news article goodness to help you catch up on any developments that you may have missed during the holiday break this past week. Note: The three 27C3 articles listed here represent three different presentations at the 27th Chaos Communication Congress hacker conference. 4chan victim of DDoS as FBI investigates role in PayPal attack Users of 4chan may have gotten a taste of their own medicine after the site was knocked offline by a DDoS attack from an unknown origin early Thursday morning. Report: FBI seizes server in probe of WikiLeaks attacks The FBI has seized a server in Texas as part of its hunt for the groups behind the pro-WikiLeaks denial-of-service attacks launched in December against PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and others. Mozilla exposes older user-account database Mozilla has disabled 44,000 older user accounts for its Firefox add-ons site after a security researcher found part of a database of the account information on a publicly available server. Data breach affects 4.9 million Honda customers Japanese automaker Honda has put some 2.2 million customers in the United States on a security breach alert after a database containing information on the owners and their cars was hacked. Chinese Trojan discovered in Android games An Android-based Trojan called “Geinimi” has been discovered in the wild and the Trojan is capable of sending personal information to remote servers and exhibits botnet-like behavior. 27C3 presentation claims many mobiles vulnerable to SMS attacks According to security experts, an ‘SMS of death’ threatens to disable many current Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Micromax and LG mobiles. 27C3: GSM cell phones even easier to tap Security researchers have demonstrated how open source software on a number of revamped, entry-level cell phones can decrypt and record mobile phone calls in the GSM network. 27C3: danger lurks in PDF documents Security researcher Julia Wolf has pointed out numerous, previously hardly known, security problems in connection with Adobe’s PDF standard. Critical update for WordPress A critical update has been made available for WordPress in the form of version 3.0.4. The update fixes a security bug in WordPress’s KSES library. McAfee Labs Predicts Geolocation, Mobile Devices and Apple Will Top the List of Targets for Emerging Threats in 2011 The list comprises 2010’s most buzzed about platforms and services, including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform, which are all expected to become major targets for cybercriminals. McAfee Labs also predicts that politically motivated attacks will be on the rise. Windows Phone 7 piracy materializes with FreeMarketplace A proof-of-concept application, FreeMarketplace, that allows any Windows Phone 7 application to be downloaded and installed free of charge has been developed. Empty email accounts, and some bad buzz for Hotmail In the past few days, a number of Hotmail users have been complaining about a rather disconcerting issue: their Hotmail accounts, some up to 10 years old, appear completely empty.  No emails, no folders, nothing, just what appears to be a new account. Reports: Nintendo warns of 3DS risk for kids Nintendo has reportedly issued a warning that the 3DS, its eagerly awaited glasses-free 3D portable gaming device, should not be used by children under 6 when the gadget is in 3D-viewing mode. Google eyes ‘cloaking’ as next antispam target Google plans to take a closer look at the practice of “cloaking,” or presenting one look to a Googlebot crawling one’s site while presenting another look to users. Facebook, Twitter stock trading drawing SEC eye? The high degree of investor interest in shares of hot Silicon Valley companies that aren’t yet publicly traded–like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Zynga–may be leading to scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Random TinyHacker Links Photo by jcraveiro. Exciting Software Set for Release in 2011 A few bloggers from great websites such as How-To Geek, Guiding Tech and 7 Tutorials took the time to sit down and talk about their software wishes for 2011. Take the time to read it and share… Wikileaks Infopr0n An infographic detailing the quest to plug WikiLeaks. The New York Times Guide to Mobile Apps A growing collection of all mobile app coverage by the New York Times as well as lists of favorite apps from Times writers. 7,000,000,000 (Video) A fascinating look at the world’s population via National Geographic Magazine. Super User Questions Check out the great answers to these hot questions from Super User. How to use a Personal computer as a Linux web server for development purposes? How to link processing power of old computers together? Free virtualization tool for testing suspicious files? Why do some actions not work with Remote Desktop? What is the simplest way to send a large batch of pictures to a distant friend or colleague? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Had a busy week and need to get caught up on your HTG reading? Then sit back and relax while enjoying these hot posts full of how-to roundup goodness. The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 How to Search Just the Site You’re Viewing Using Google Search Ask the Readers: Backing Your Files Up – Local Storage versus the Cloud One Year Ago on How-To Geek Need more how-to geekiness for your weekend? Then look through this great batch of articles from one year ago that focus on dual-booting and O.S. installation goodness. Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Vista Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with XP How To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7 Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Ubuntu Easily Install Ubuntu Linux with Windows Using the Wubi Installer The Geek Note We hope that you and your families have had a terrific holiday break as everyone prepares to return to work and school this week. Remember to keep those great tips coming in to us at [email protected]! Photo by pjbeardsley. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Tune Pop Enhances Android Music Notifications Another Busy Night in Gotham City Wallpaper Classic Super Mario Brothers Theme for Chrome and Iron Experimental Firefox Builds Put Tabs on the Title Bar (Available for Download) Android Trojan Found in the Wild Chaos, Panic, and Disorder Wallpaper

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• Getting Started with Boxee

  - by DigitalGeekery

  Boxee is a free Media PC application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu Linux. With Boxee, you can integrate online video, music and pictures, with your own local media and social networking. Today we are going to take a closer look at Boxee and some of it’s features. Note: We used Windows 7 for this tutorial. Your experience on a Mac or Ubuntu Linux build may vary slightly. Hardware Requirements x86 (Intel/AMD processor) based system running at 1.0GHz or greater 512MB system memory (RAM) or more Video card capable of OpenGL 1.4, Direct X 9.0 Software Requirements Mac OS X 10.4+ (Intel based processor) Ubuntu Linux 9.04+ x86 only Windows XP / Vista / 7 (64 bit in Vista or 7) Installing Boxee Before downloading and installing Boxee, you’ll need to register for a free account. (See link below) Once your account is registered and verified, you’ll be able to log in and download the application. Installation is pretty straightforward…just take the defaults. Boxee will open in full screen mode and you’ll be prompted to login with your username and password. Before you login, you may want to take a moment to click on the “Guide” icon and learn a bit about navigating in Boxee. Some basic keyboard navigation is as follows. Move right, left, up, & down with the arrow keys. Hit “Enter” to make a selection, the forward slash key “\” to toggle between full screen and windowed mode, and “Esc” to go back to the previous screen. For Playback, the volume is controlled by plus & minus (+/-) keys, you can Play / Pause using the spacebar, and skip using the arrow keys. Boxee will also work with any infrared remote. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can download software to enable them as a Boxee remote. If you’re using a mouse and keyboard, hover over the username and password boxes to enter your login credentials. If using a a remote, click your OK button and enter credentials with the on screen keyboard. Click “Done” when finished.   When you are ready to login, enter your credentials and click “Login.” On first login, you’ll be prompted to calibrate your screen. If you choose “Skip” you can always calibrate your screen later under Settings > Appearance > Screen. When Boxee opens, you’ll be greeted by the Home screen. To the left will be your Feeds. This will be any recommended content from friends on Boxee, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Although, when you first login, it will mainly be info from the Boxee staff. You’ll have “Featured” content in the center and your Queue on the right. You’ll also have the Menu along the top.   Pop Up Menu The Pop Menu can be accessed by hitting the “Esc” key, or back on your remote. Depending on where you are located in Boxee, you may have to hit it a few time to “back out” to the Pop Up menu. From the Pop Up Menu, you can easily access any of the resources, settings, and favorites. Queue The Queue is your playlist of TV shows, movies, or Internet videos you wish to watch. When you find an offering you’d like to watch, select it and then click “Add to Queue.” The selected item will be added to your Queue and can be accessed at any time from the Menu. TV Show Library The TV Show library can contain files from your local hard drive or streaming content from the Web. Boxee pulls content from a variety of online locations such as Hulu and TV network sites. Click on the show to see which specific episodes are currently available. To search for your favorite shows, click on the yellow arrow to the left, or navigate to the left with your keyboard or remote. Enter your selection into the search box. My Apps By default, the “My Apps” section includes a list of the most popular apps, such as Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and others. You can remove Apps from “My Apps,” or add new Apps from the Apps Library.   To access all the available Apps, click on the left arrow button, or click on the yellow arrow at the left, then select “App Library.” Choose an App from the Library and click it to open… … and then select “Add to My Apps.” Or, you can click start to play the App if you don’t wish to Add it to your “My Apps.”   Music, Pictures, and Movies Boxee will scan your PC for movies, pictures, and music. You can choose to scan specific folders by clicking on “Scan Media Folders…” … or from the Pop Up Menu, selecting Settings > Media, and then browsing for your media.   Conclusion Boxee to be a great way to integrate your local media with online streaming content. It can be run as an application on your home PC, or as a stand alone media PC. It should also be noted, however, that your access to online content will vary depending on your country. If you are a Windows Media Center user and and want to add the additional features of Boxee, check out our article on integrating Boxee with Windows 7 Media Center. Download Boxee Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Integrate Boxee with Media Center in Windows 7Disable Fast User Switching on Windows XPOops! Sorry About the Feed ErrorsDisplay a list of Started Services from the Command Line (Windows)Feedburner to Google: Worst Transition Ever. 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 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Discover New Bundled Feeds in Google Reader Play Music in Chrome by Simply Dragging a File 15 Great Illustrations by Chow Hon Lam Easily Sync Files & Folders with Friends & Family Amazon Free Kindle for PC Download Stretch popurls.com with a Stylish Script (Firefox)

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• VS 2010 SP1 (Beta) and IIS Express

  - by ScottGu

  Last month we released the VS 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta.  You can learn more about the VS 2010 SP1 Beta from Jason Zander’s two blog posts about it, and from Scott Hanselman’s blog post that covers some of the new capabilities enabled with it.  You can download and install the VS 2010 SP1 Beta here. IIS Express Earlier this summer I blogged about IIS Express.  IIS Express is a free version of IIS 7.5 that is optimized for developer scenarios.  We think it combines the ease of use of the ASP.NET Web Server (aka Cassini) currently built-into VS today with the full power of IIS.  Specifically: It’s lightweight and easy to install (less than 5Mb download and a quick install) It does not require an administrator account to run/debug applications from Visual Studio It enables a full web-server feature set – including SSL, URL Rewrite, and other IIS 7.x modules It supports and enables the same extensibility model and web.config file settings that IIS 7.x support It can be installed side-by-side with the full IIS web server as well as the ASP.NET Development Server (they do not conflict at all) It works on Windows XP and higher operating systems – giving you a full IIS 7.x developer feature-set on all Windows OS platforms IIS Express (like the ASP.NET Development Server) can be quickly launched to run a site from a directory on disk.  It does not require any registration/configuration steps. This makes it really easy to launch and run for development scenarios. Visual Studio 2010 SP1 adds support for IIS Express – and you can start to take advantage of this starting with last month’s VS 2010 SP1 Beta release. Downloading and Installing IIS Express IIS Express isn’t included as part of the VS 2010 SP1 Beta.  Instead it is a separate ~4MB download which you can download and install using this link (it uses WebPI to install it).  Once IIS Express is installed, VS 2010 SP1 will enable some additional IIS Express commands and dialog options that allow you to easily use it. Enabling IIS Express for Existing Projects Visual Studio today defaults to using the built-in ASP.NET Development Server (aka Cassini) when running ASP.NET Projects: Converting your existing projects to use IIS Express is really easy.  You can do this by opening up the project properties dialog of an existing project, and then by clicking the “web” tab within it and selecting the “Use IIS Express” checkbox. Or even simpler, just right-click on your existing project, and select the “Use IIS Express…” menu command: And now when you run or debug your project you’ll see that IIS Express now starts up and runs automatically as your web-server: You can optionally right-click on the IIS Express icon within your system tray to see/browse all of sites and applications running on it: Note that if you ever want to revert back to using the ASP.NET Development Server you can do this by right-clicking the project again and then select the “Use Visual Studio Development Server” option (or go into the project properties, click the web tab, and uncheck IIS Express).  This will revert back to the ASP.NET Development Server the next time you run the project. IIS Express Properties Visual Studio 2010 SP1 exposes several new IIS Express configuration options that you couldn’t previously set with the ASP.NET Development Server.  Some of these are exposed via the property grid of your project (select the project node in the solution explorer and then change them via the property window): For example, enabling something like SSL support (which is not possible with the ASP.NET Development Server) can now be done simply by changing the “SSL Enabled” property to “True”: Once this is done IIS Express will expose both an HTTP and HTTPS endpoint for the project that we can use: SSL Self Signed Certs IIS Express ships with a self-signed SSL cert that it installs as part of setup – which removes the need for you to install your own certificate to use SSL during development.  Once you change the above drop-down to enable SSL, you’ll be able to browse to your site with the appropriate https:// URL prefix and it will connect via SSL. One caveat with self-signed certificates, though, is that browsers (like IE) will go out of their way to warn you that they aren’t to be trusted: You can mark the certificate as trusted to avoid seeing dialogs like this – or just keep the certificate un-trusted and press the “continue” button when the browser warns you not to trust your local web server. Additional IIS Settings IIS Express uses its own per-user ApplicationHost.config file to configure default server behavior.  Because it is per-user, it can be configured by developers who do not have admin credentials – unlike the full IIS.  You can customize all IIS features and settings via it if you want ultimate server customization (for example: to use your own certificates for SSL instead of self-signed ones). We recommend storing all app specific settings for IIS and ASP.NET within the web.config file which is part of your project – since that makes deploying apps easier (since the settings can be copied with the application content).  IIS (since IIS 7) no longer uses the metabase, and instead uses the same web.config configuration files that ASP.NET has always supported – which makes xcopy/ftp based deployment much easier. Making IIS Express your Default Web Server Above we looked at how we can convert existing sites that use the ASP.NET Developer Web Server to instead use IIS Express.  You can configure Visual Studio to use IIS Express as the default web server for all new projects by clicking the Tools->Options menu  command and opening up the Projects and Solutions->Web Projects node with the Options dialog: Clicking the “Use IIS Express for new file-based web site and projects” checkbox will cause Visual Studio to use it for all new web site and projects. Summary We think IIS Express makes it even easier to build, run and test web applications.  It works with all versions of ASP.NET and supports all ASP.NET application types (including obviously both ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC applications).  Because IIS Express is based on the IIS 7.5 codebase, you have a full web-server feature-set that you can use.  This means you can build and run your applications just like they’ll work on a real production web-server.  In addition to supporting ASP.NET, IIS Express also supports Classic ASP and other file-types and extensions supported by IIS – which also makes it ideal for sites that combine a variety of different technologies. Best of all – you do not need to change any code to take advantage of it.  As you can see above, updating existing Visual Studio web projects to use it is trivial.  You can begin to take advantage of IIS Express today using the VS 2010 SP1 Beta. Hope this helps, Scott

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• [GEEK SCHOOL] Network Security 4: Windows Firewall: Your System’s Best Defense

  - by Ciprian Rusen

  If you have your computer connected to a network, or directly to your Internet connection, then having a firewall is an absolute necessity. In this lesson we will discuss the Windows Firewall – one of the best security features available in Windows! The Windows Firewall made its debut in Windows XP. Prior to that, Windows system needed to rely on third-party solutions or dedicated hardware to protect them from network-based attacks. Over the years, Microsoft has done a great job with it and it is one of the best firewalls you will ever find for Windows operating systems. Seriously, it is so good that some commercial vendors have decided to piggyback on it! Let’s talk about what you will learn in this lesson. First, you will learn about what the Windows Firewall is, what it does, and how it works. Afterward, you will start to get your hands dirty and edit the list of apps, programs, and features that are allowed to communicate through the Windows Firewall depending on the type of network you are connected to. Moving on from there, you will learn how to add new apps or programs to the list of allowed items and how to remove the apps and programs that you want to block. Last but not least, you will learn how to enable or disable the Windows Firewall, for only one type of networks or for all network connections. By the end of this lesson, you should know enough about the Windows Firewall to use and manage it effectively. What is the Windows Firewall? Windows Firewall is an important security application that’s built into Windows. One of its roles is to block unauthorized access to your computer. The second role is to permit authorized data communications to and from your computer. Windows Firewall does these things with the help of rules and exceptions that are applied both to inbound and outbound traffic. They are applied depending on the type of network you are connected to and the location you have set for it in Windows, when connecting to the network. Based on your choice, the Windows Firewall automatically adjusts the rules and exceptions applied to that network. This makes the Windows Firewall a product that’s silent and easy to use. It bothers you only when it doesn’t have any rules and exceptions for what you are trying to do or what the programs running on your computer are trying to do. If you need a refresher on the concept of network locations, we recommend you to read our How-To Geek School class on Windows Networking. Another benefit of the Windows Firewall is that it is so tightly and nicely integrated into Windows and all its networking features, that some commercial vendors decided to piggyback onto it and use it in their security products. For example, products from companies like Trend Micro or F-Secure no longer provide their proprietary firewall modules but use the Windows Firewall instead. Except for a few wording differences, the Windows Firewall works the same in Windows 7 and Windows 8.x. The only notable difference is that in Windows 8.x you will see the word “app” being used instead of “program”. Where to Find the Windows Firewall By default, the Windows Firewall is turned on and you don’t need to do anything special in order for it work. You will see it displaying some prompts once in a while but they show up so rarely that you might forget that is even working. If you want to access it and configure the way it works, go to the Control Panel, then go to “System and Security” and select “Windows Firewall”. Now you will see the Windows Firewall window where you can get a quick glimpse on whether it is turned on and the type of network you are connected to: private networks or public network. For the network type that you are connected to, you will see additional information like: The state of the Windows Firewall How the Windows Firewall deals with incoming connections The active network When the Windows Firewall will notify you You can easily expand the other section and view the default settings that apply when connecting to networks of that type. If you have installed a third-party security application that also includes a firewall module, chances are that the Windows Firewall has been disabled, in order to avoid performance issues and conflicts between the two security products. If that is the case for your computer or device, you won’t be able to view any information in the Windows Firewall window and you won’t be able to configure the way it works. Instead, you will see a warning that says: “These settings are being managed by vendor application – Application Name”. In the screenshot below you can see an example of how this looks. How to Allow Desktop Applications Through the Windows Firewall Windows Firewall has a very comprehensive set of rules and most Windows programs that you install add their own exceptions to the Windows Firewall so that they receive network and Internet access. This means that you will see prompts from the Windows Firewall on occasion, generally when you install programs that do not add their own exceptions to the Windows Firewall’s list. In a Windows Firewall prompt, you are asked to select the network locations to which you allow access for that program: private networks or public networks. By default, Windows Firewall selects the checkbox that’s appropriate for the network you are currently using. You can decide to allow access for both types of network locations or just to one of them. To apply your setting press “Allow access”. If you want to block network access for that program, press “Cancel” and the program will be set as blocked for both network locations. At this step you should note that only administrators can set exceptions in the Windows Firewall. If you are using a standard account without administrator permissions, the programs that do not comply with the Windows Firewall rules and exceptions are automatically blocked, without any prompts being shown. You should note that in Windows 8.x you will never see any Windows Firewall prompts related to apps from the Windows Store. They are automatically given access to the network and the Internet based on the assumption that you are aware of the permissions they require based on the information displayed by the Windows Store. Windows Firewall rules and exceptions are automatically created for each app that you install from the Windows Store. However, you can easily block access to the network and the Internet for any app, using the instructions in the next section. How to Customize the Rules for Allowed Apps Windows Firewall allows any user with an administrator account to change the list of rules and exceptions applied for apps and desktop programs. In order to do this, first start the Windows Firewall. On the column on the left, click or tap “Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall” (in Windows 8.x) or “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall” (in Windows 7). Now you see the list of apps and programs that are allowed to communicate through the Windows Firewall. At this point, the list is grayed out and you can only view which apps, features, and programs have rules that are enabled in the Windows Firewall.

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• Monitor your Hard Drive’s Health with Acronis Drive Monitor

  - by Matthew Guay

  Are you worried that your computer’s hard drive could die without any warning?  Here’s how you can keep tabs on it and get the first warning signs of potential problems before you actually lose your critical data. Hard drive failures are one of the most common ways people lose important data from their computers.  As more of our memories and important documents are stored digitally, a hard drive failure can mean the loss of years of work.  Acronis Drive Monitor helps you avert these disasters by warning you at the first signs your hard drive may be having trouble.  It monitors many indicators, including heat, read/write errors, total lifespan, and more. It then notifies you via a taskbar popup or email that problems have been detected.  This early warning lets you know ahead of time that you may need to purchase a new hard drive and migrate your data before it’s too late. Getting Started Head over to the Acronis site to download Drive Monitor (link below).  You’ll need to enter your name and email, and then you can download this free tool. Also, note that the download page may ask if you want to include a trial of their for-pay backup program.  If you wish to simply install the Drive Monitor utility, click Continue without adding. Run the installer when the download is finished.  Follow the prompts and install as normal. Once it’s installed, you can quickly get an overview of your hard drives’ health.  Note that it shows 3 categories: Disk problems, Acronis backup, and Critical Events.  On our computer, we had Seagate DiskWizard, an image backup utility based on Acronis Backup, installed, and Acronis detected it. Drive Monitor stays running in your tray even when the application window is closed.  It will keep monitoring your hard drives, and will alert you if there’s a problem. Find Detailed Information About Your Hard Drives Acronis’ simple interface lets you quickly see an overview of how the drives on your computer are performing.  If you’d like more information, click the link under the description.  Here we see that one of our drives have overheated, so click Show disks to get more information. Now you can select each of your drives and see more information about them.  From the Disk overview tab that opens by default, we see that our drive is being monitored, has been running for a total of 368 days, and that it’s health is good.  However, it is running at 113F, which is over the recommended max of 107F.   The S.M.A.R.T. parameters tab gives us more detailed information about our drive.  Most users wouldn’t know what an accepted value would be, so it also shows the status.  If the value is within the accepted parameters, it will report OK; otherwise, it will show that has a problem in this area. One very interesting piece of information we can see is the total number of Power-On Hours, Start/Stop Count, and Power Cycle Count.  These could be useful indicators to check if you’re considering purchasing a second hand computer.  Simply load this program, and you’ll get a better view of how long it’s been in use. Finally, the Events tab shows each time the program gave a warning.  We can see that our drive, which had been acting flaky already, is routinely overheating even when our other hard drive was running in normal temperature ranges. Monitor Acronis Backups And Critical Errors In addition to monitoring critical stats of your hard drives, Acronis Drive Monitor also keeps up with the status of your backup software and critical events reported by Windows.  You can access these from the front page, or via the links on the left hand sidebar.  If you have any edition of any Acronis Backup product installed, it will show that it was detected.  Note that it can only monitor the backup status of the newest versions of Acronis Backup and True Image. If no Acronis backup software was installed, it will show a warning that the drive may be unprotected and will give you a link to download Acronis backup software.   If you have another backup utility installed that you wish to monitor yourself, click Configure backup monitoring, and then disable monitoring on the drives you’re monitoring yourself. Finally, you can view any detected Critical events from the Critical events tab on the left. Get Emailed When There’s a Problem One of Drive Monitor’s best features is the ability to send you an email whenever there’s a problem.  Since this program can run on any version of Windows, including the Server and Home Server editions, you can use this feature to stay on top of your hard drives’ health even when you’re not nearby.  To set this up, click Options in the top left corner. Select Alerts on the left, and then click the Change settings link to setup your email account. Enter the email address which you wish to receive alerts, and a name for the program.  Then, enter the outgoing mail server settings for your email.  If you have a Gmail account, enter the following information: Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com Port: 587 Username and Password: Your gmail address and password Check the Use encryption box, and then select TLS from the encryption options.   It will now send a test message to your email account, so check and make sure it sent ok. Now you can choose to have the program automatically email you when warnings and critical alerts appear, and also to have it send regular disk status reports.   Conclusion Whether you’ve got a brand new hard drive or one that’s seen better days, knowing the real health of your it is one of the best ways to be prepared before disaster strikes.  It’s no substitute for regular backups, but can help you avert problems.  Acronis Drive Monitor is a nice tool for this, and although we wish it wasn’t so centered around their backup offerings, we still found it a nice tool. Link Download Acronis Drive Monitor (registration required) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Quick Tip: Change Monitor Timeout From Command LineAnalyze and Manage Hard Drive Space with WinDirStatMonitor CPU, Memory, and Disk IO In Windows 7 with Taskbar MetersDefrag Multiple Hard Drives At Once In WindowsFind Your Missing USB Drive on Windows XP 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 HippoRemote Pro 2.2 Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Windows 7’s WordPad is Actually Good Greate Image Viewing and Management with Zoner Photo Studio Free Windows Media Player Plus! – Cool WMP Enhancer Get Your Team’s World Cup Schedule In Google Calendar Backup Drivers With Driver Magician TubeSort: YouTube Playlist Organizer

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• What to Do When Windows Won’t Boot

  - by Chris Hoffman

  You turn on your computer one day and Windows refuses to boot — what do you do? “Windows won’t boot” is a common symptom with a variety of causes, so you’ll need to perform some troubleshooting. Modern versions of Windows are better at recovering from this sort of thing. Where Windows XP might have stopped in its tracks when faced with this problem, modern versions of Windows will try to automatically run Startup Repair. First Things First Be sure to think about changes you’ve made recently — did you recently install a new hardware driver, connect a new hardware component to your computer, or open your computer’s case and do something? It’s possible the hardware driver is buggy, the new hardware is incompatible, or that you accidentally unplugged something while working inside your computer. The Computer Won’t Power On At All If your computer won’t power on at all, ensure it’s plugged into a power outlet and that the power connector isn’t loose. If it’s a desktop PC, ensure the power switch on the back of its case — on the power supply — is set to the On position. If it still won’t power on at all, it’s possible you disconnected a power cable inside its case. If you haven’t been messing around inside the case, it’s possible the power supply is dead. In this case, you’ll have to get your computer’s hardware fixed or get a new computer. Be sure to check your computer monitor — if your computer seems to power on but your screen stays black, ensure your monitor is powered on and that the cable connecting it to your computer’s case is plugged in securely at both ends. The Computer Powers On And Says No Bootable Device If your computer is powering on but you get a black screen that says something like “no bootable device” or another sort of “disk error” message, your computer can’t seem to boot from the hard drive that Windows was installed on. Enter your computer’s BIOS or UEFI firmware setup screen and check its boot order setting, ensuring that it’s set to boot from its hard drive. If the hard drive doesn’t appear in the list at all, it’s possible your hard drive has failed and can no longer be booted from. In this case, you may want to insert Windows installation or recovery media and run the Startup Repair operation. This will attempt to make Windows bootable again. For example, if something overwrote your Windows drive’s boot sector, this will repair the boot sector. If the recovery environment won’t load or doesn’t see your hard drive, you likely have a hardware problem. Be sure to check your BIOS or UEFI’s boot order first if the recovery environment won’t load. You can also attempt to manually fix Windows boot loader problems using the fixmbr and fixboot commands. Modern versions of Windows should be able to fix this problem for you with the Startup Repair wizard, so you shouldn’t actually have to run these commands yourself. Windows Freezes or Crashes During Boot If Windows seems to start booting but fails partway through, you may be facing either a software or hardware problem. If it’s a software problem, you may be able to fix it by performing a Startup Repair operation. If you can’t do this from the boot menu, insert a Windows installation disc or recovery disk and use the startup repair tool from there. If this doesn’t help at all, you may want to reinstall Windows or perform a Refresh or Reset on Windows 8. If the computer encounters errors while attempting to perform startup repair or reinstall Windows, or the reinstall process works properly and you encounter the same errors afterwards, you likely have a hardware problem. Windows Starts and Blue Screens or Freezes If Windows crashes or blue-screens on you every time it boots, you may be facing a hardware or software problem. For example, malware or a buggy driver may be loading at boot and causing the crash, or your computer’s hardware may be malfunctioning. To test this, boot your Windows computer in safe mode. In safe mode, Windows won’t load typical hardware drivers or any software that starts automatically at startup. If the computer is stable in safe mode, try uninstalling any recently installed hardware drivers, performing a system restore, and scanning for malware. If you’re lucky, one of these steps may fix your software problem and allow you to boot Windows normally. If your problem isn’t fixed, try reinstalling Windows or performing a Refresh or Reset on Windows 8. This will reset your computer back to its clean, factory-default state. If you’re still experiencing crashes, your computer likely has a hardware problem. Recover Files When Windows Won’t Boot If you have important files that will be lost and want to back them up before reinstalling Windows, you can use a Windows installer disc or Linux live media to recover the files. These run entirely from a CD, DVD, or USB drive and allow you to copy your files to another external media, such as another USB stick or an external hard drive. If you’re incapable of booting a Windows installer disc or Linux live CD, you may need to go into your BIOS or UEFI and change the boot order setting. If even this doesn’t work — or if you can boot from the devices and your computer freezes or you can’t access your hard drive — you likely have a hardware problem. You can try pulling the computer’s hard drive, inserting it into another computer, and recovering your files that way. Following these steps should fix the vast majority of Windows boot issues — at least the ones that are actually fixable. The dark cloud that always hangs over such issues is the possibility that the hard drive or another component in the computer may be failing. Image Credit: Karl-Ludwig G. Poggemann on Flickr, Tzuhsun Hsu on Flickr     

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• 24+ Coda Alternatives for Windows and Linux

  - by Matt

  Coda plays an important role in designing layout on Mac. There are numerous coda alternatives for windows and Linux too. It is not possible to describe each and everyone so some of the coda alternatives, which work on both windows and Linux platforms, are discussed below. EditPlus $35.00 Good thing about EditPlus is that it highlights URLs and email addresses, activating them when you ‘crtl + double-click’. It also has a built in browser for previewing HTML, and FTP and SFTP support. Also supports Macros and RegEx find and replace. UltraEdit $49.99 It is another good coda alternative for windows and Linux. It is the best suited editor for text, HTML and HEX. It also plays an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. It supports disk-based 64-bit or standard file handling on 32-bit Windows platforms or window 2000 and later versions. HippoEdit $39.95 HippoEDIT has the best autocomplete it gives pop a ‘tooltip’ above your cursor as you type, suggesting words you’ve already typed. It does syntax highlighting for over 2 dozen language. Sublime Text $59.00 Sublime Text awesome ‘zoomed out’ view of the file lets you focus on the area you want. It lets you open a local file when you right-click on its link, and there are a few automation features, so this would make a solid choice of a text editor. Textpad $24.70 TextPad is simple editor with nifty features such as column select, drag-and-drop text between files, and hyperlink support. It also supports large files. Aptana Free Aptana Studio is one of the best editors working on both windows and Linux. It is a complete web development setting that has a nice blend of powerful authoring tools with a collection of online hosting and collaboration services. It is quite helpful as it support for PHP, CSS, FTP, and more. SciTE Free It is a SCIntilla based Text Editor. It has gradually developed as a generally useful editor. It provides for building and running programs. It is best to be used for jobs with simple configurations. SciTE is currently available for Intel Win32 and Linux compatible operating systems with GTK+. It has been run on Windows XP and on Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10 with GTK+ 2.12 E Text Editor $34.96 E Text Editor is a new text editor for Windows, which also works on Linux as well. It has powerful editing features and also some unique abilities. It makes text manipulation quite fast and easy, and makes user focus on his writing as it automatically does all the manual work. It can be extend it in any language. It supports Text Mate bundles, thus allows the user to tap into a huge and active community. Editra Free Editra is an upcoming editor, with some fantastic features such as user profiles, auto-completion, session saving, and syntax highlighing for 60+ languages. Plugins can extend the feature set, offering an integrated python console, FTP client, file browser, and calculator, among others. PSPad Free PSPad is a good Template for writing CSS, as it an internal web browser, and a macro recorder to the table. It also supports hex editing, and some degree of code compiling. JEdit Free It is a mature programmer’s text editor and has taken a good deal of time to be developed as it is today. It is better than many costlier development tools due to its features and simplicity of use. It has been released as free software with full source code, provided under the terms of the GPL 2.0. Which also adds to its attractiveness. NEdit Free It is a multi-purpose text editor for the X Window System, which also works on Linux. It combines a standard, easy to use, graphical user interface with the full functionality and stability required by users who edit text for long period a day. It also provides for thorough support for development in various languages. It also facilitates the use of text processors, and other tools at the same time. It can be used productively by anyone who needs to edit text. It is quite a user-friendly tool. Its salient features include syntax highlighting with built in pattern, auto indent, tab emulation, block indentation adjustment etc. As of version 5.1, NEdit may be freely distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. MadEdit Free Mad Edit is an Open-Source and Cross-Platform Text/Hex Editor. It is written in C++ and wxWidgets. MadEdit can edit files in Text/Column/Hex modes. It also supports many useful functions, such as Syntax Highlighting, Word Wrap, Encoding for UTF8/16/32,and others. It also supports word count, which makes it quite a useful text editor for both windows and Linux. It has been recently modified on 10/09/2010. KompoZer Free Kompozer is a complete web authoring system that has a combination of web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing. KompoZer has been designed to be completely and extensively easy to use. It is thus an ideal tool for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without knowing HTML or web coding. It is based on the NVU source code. Vim Free Vim or “Vi IMproved” is an advanced text editor. Its salient features are syntax highlighting, word completion and it also has a huge amount of contributed content. Vim has several “modes” on offer for editing, which adds to the efficiency in editing. Thus it becomes a non-user-friendly application but it is also strength for its users. The normal mode binds alphanumeric keys to task-oriented commands. The visual mode highlights text. More tools for search & replace, defining functions, etc. are offered through command line mode. Vim comes with complete help. NotePad ++ Free One of the the best free text editor for Windows out there; with support for simple things—like syntax highlighting and folding—all the way up to FTP, Notepad++ should tick most of the boxes Notepad2 Free Notepad2 is also based on the Scintilla editing engine, but it’s much simpler than Notepad++. It bills itself as being fast, light-weight, and Notepad-like. Crimson Editor Free Crimson Editor has the ability to edit remote files, using a built-in FTP client; there’s also a spell checker. TotalEdit Free TotalEdit allows file comparison, RegEx search and replace, and has multiple options for file backup / versioning. For cleanup, it offers (X)HTML and XML customizable formatting, and a spell checker. In-Type Free ConTEXT Free SourceEdit Free SourceEdit includes features such as clipboard history, syntax highlighting and autocompletion for a decent set of languages. A hex editor and FTP client. RJ TextED Free RJ TextED supports integration with TopStyle Lite. Provides HTML validation and formatting. It includes an FTP client, a file browser, and a code browser, as well as a character map and support for email. GEDIT Free It is one of the best coda alternatives for windows and Linux. It has syntax highlighting and is best suitable for programming. It has many attractive features such as full support for UTF-8, undo/redo, and clipboard support, search and replace, configurable syntax highlighting for various languages and many more supportive features. It is extensible with plug ins. Other important coda alternatives for windows and Linux are Redcar, Bluefish Editor, NVU, Ruby Mine, Slick Edit, Geany, Editra, txt2html and CSSED. There are many more. Its up to user to decide which one suits best to his requirements. Related posts:10 Useful Text Editor For Developer Applications to Install & Run Windows on Linux Open Source WYSIWYG Text Editors

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• Speaker at the German Visual FoxPro Developer Conference 2004

  The following is an excerpt from the UniversalThread conference coverage of the German Visual FoxPro Developer Conference 2004 written by Hans-Otto Lochmann, Armin Neudert and myself. TRACK Active FoxPro Pages Back in 1996 Peter Herzog invented a FoxPro based solution to provide intranet capabilities for one of his customers. Nearly at the same time Rick Strahl had the same task and created WestWind Web Connection (WWWC). The aspect that developers have to have a full Visual FoxPro development environment to create WWWC solutions was the starting point of a "personal sportive competition" of Peter to write his own solution. But the main aspect has to be that it doesn't rely on a full VFP version in order to run. The VFP runtime should enough and the source code has to be compiled and interpreted on the fly. So, as Microsoft released Active Server Pages a name for Peter's solution was found: Active FoxPro Pages (AFP). During the years many drawbacks, design aspects as well as technological hassles forced ProLib Software to refactor the product. This way many limits like DCOM configuration, file-based information transfer between Web server and AFP, missing features (like upload forms or other Web servers than IIS) and extensibility were eliminated. As a consequence ProLib Software decided to rewrite Active FoxPro Pages in mid of 2002 completely. Christof Wollenhaupt, before his marriage known as Christof Lange, and Jochen Kirstätter had to solve this task. AFP 3.0 was officially released at German Devcon in November 2002. Today AFP has six distributors world-wide and there is a lot more information available online than before version 3.0. Directly after a short welcome speech by Rainer Becker, Jochen Kirstätter - aka JoKi - opened today's AFP track and introduced the basic concepts how Active FoxPro Pages works in general, explained the AFP terminilogy and every single component, and presented a small Walk-Through about how to write an AFP-based Web solution. Actually his presentation slides themselves were an AFP Web application. This way it was easy to integrate accompanying AFP samples on the fly. Additionally it was shown that no Visual FoxPro development environment is needed to create a Web application. A simple text editor like NotePad or any WYSIWYG editor on the market is usable to fullfil customer's requirements.Welcome at least two new speakers - Nina Schwanzer and Bernhard Reiter. Both are working at ProLib Software and this year's conference is their first time as speakers. And they did their job very well. The whole session was kind of a "ping pong" game and those two complemented each other to keep the audience in tension. First, they described typical requirements a modern desktop application should fullfil - online registration and activation, auto-update capabilities, or even frontend to administer a Web application on a remote system via internet, and explained how possible solutions like Web Services (using the SOAP interface), DCOM, and even .NET might solve those requirements. But any of those ways has different drawbacks like complicated installation or configuration, or extraordinary download sizes. Next, they introduced a technology they developed and used in a customer's project: Active FoxPro Pages Remote Procedure Call (AFP RPC). [...]   In the next session JoKi described how to extend Active FoxPro Pages. On the one hand AFP provides a plugin interface, and on the other hand any addon for Visual FoxPro might be usable as well. During the first half he spoke about the plugin interface and wrote live a new AFP extension - the Devcon plugin. Later he questioned any former step and showed that a single AFP document may solve the problem as well. So, developing extensions is only interesting if they are re-usable and generic. At the end he talked about multiple interfaces for the same business logic. For instance plain VFP class, COM server and .NET integration. Currently there are several specialized AFP extensions for sending mail, for using cryptographic routines (ie. based on .NET classes), or enhanced methods to handle HTML/XML strings.Rainer Becker and Peter Herzog introduced a new development for Visual Extend (VFX) - an AFP form builder. With this builder creating an AFP Web form designed with Visual FoxPro's form designer was a matter of seconds. The builder itself is currently in pre-release status and will be part of the VFX framework in the future. It was very impressive to see that the whole design of a form as well as most parts of its functionality were exported to a combination of HTML, JavaScript and Active FoxPro Pages. At half-time Jürgen "wOOdy" Wondzinski and JoKi changed places with Rainer and Peter, and presented some Web solutions in AFP. [...] Visual FoxPro 9.0 und Linux Is Linux still a topic for Visual FoxPro developers based on the activities during this year? In his session Jochen Kirstätter - aka JoKi - went not through the technical steps and requirements on how to setup and run FoxPro on a Linux client. Instead, he explained what Linux actually is, and talked about the high variety of distributions. In fact there are a lot of distributions around but since some several years there are some specialized ones available: Live Distributions (aka LiveCDs).The intension of LiveCDs is to run a full-featured Linux operating system on any personal computer directly from a bootable medium, like CD, DVD, or even USB memory stick, without installation on a hard disk. One of the first Linux LiveCDs was made by Klaus Knopper and is well-known as Knoppix. Today, many other LiveCDs are based on the concepts of Knoppix. During the session Jochen booted Morphix, a very light-weighted LiveCD, on his notebook, and actually showed the attendees that testing and playing around with Linux is absolutely easy. Running a text processing application swept away most of the contrary aspects the audience had. Okay, where is the part about FoxPro? Well, there are several scenarios a customer might require usage of Linux, and actually with all of them FoxPro could deal with. I guess that one of the more common ones is the situation that a customer has a heterogeneous intranet with Windows clients and Linux servers, i.e. Windows XP Professional and any Linux distribution on their servers. Even in this scenario there are two variants hidden! Why? Well, on the one hand there is a software package called Samba, that provides Windows server capabilities to a Linux system, and on the other hand there are several SQL servers for Linux, like PostgreSQL, DB2 and MySQL. Either way, FoxPro is able to deal with these scenarios, but you as developer have to know what you are talking about with your customers. And even if there's no Windows operating system, you are able to provide a FoxPro-based solution. Using the wine library - wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator - you are able to run your VFP applications on Linux clients, too; but not without reading VFP's EULA. Licenses were also part the session, and Jochen discussed the meaning of Open Source and its misunderstanding throughout most developers. Open Source does not mean that it's without a fee. Instead, it stands for access to the source code of an application or tool. And, VFP itself is one of the best samples to explain Open Source due to fact that since years, VFP is shipped with the xSource.zip archive. [...]

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• Clarity is important, both in question and in answer.

  - by gerrylowry

  clarity is important ... i'm often reminded of the Clouseau movie in which Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Clouseau asks a hotel clerk "Does your dog bite?" ... the clerk answers "no" ... after Clouseau has been bitten by the dog, he looks at the hotel clerk who says "That's not my dog".  Clarity is important, both in question and in answer. i've been a member of forums.asp.net since 2008 ... like many of my peers at forums.asp.net, i've answered my fair share of questions. FWIW, the purpose of this, my first web log post to http://weblogs.asp.net/gerrylowry is to help new members ask better questions and in turn get better answers. TIMTOWTDI  =.  there is more than one way to do it imho, the best way to ask a question in any forum, or even person to person, is to first formulate your question and then ask yourself to answer your own question. Things to consider when asking (the more complete your question, the more likely you'll get the answer you require): -- have you searched Google and/or your favourite search engine(s) before posting your question to forums.asp.net; examples: site:msdn.microsoft.com entity framework 5.0 c#http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Amsdn.microsoft.com+entity+framework+5.0+c%23 site:forums.asp.net MVC tutorial c#http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Aforums.asp.net+MVC+tutorial+c%23 -- are you asking your question in the correct forum?  look at the forums' descriptions at http://forums.asp.net/; examples: Getting Started If you have a general ASP.NET question on a topic that's not covered by one of the other more specific forums - ask it here. MVC Discussions regarding ASP.NET Model-View-Controller (MVC) C# Questions about using C# for ASP.NET development Note:  if your question pertains more to c# than to MVC, choosing the C# forum is likely to be more appropriate. -- is your post subject clear and concise, yet not too vague? compare these three subjects (all three had something to do with GridView):     (1)    please help     (2)    gridview      (3)    How to show newline in GridView  -- have you clearly explained your scenario? compare:  my leg hurts   with   when i walk too much, my right knee hurts in the knee joint  compare:  my code does not work    with    when i enter a date as 2012-11-8, i get a FormatException -- have you checked your spelling, your grammar, and your English? for better or worse, English is the language of forums.asp.net ... many of the currently 170000++ forums.asp.net are not native speakers of English; that's okay ... however, there are times when choosing the more appropriate words will likely get one a better answer; fortunately, there are web tools to help you formulate your question, for example, http://translate.google.com/.  -- have you provided relevant information about your environment? here are a few examples ... feel free to include other items to your question ... rule of thumb:  if you think a given detail is relevant, it likely is -- what technology are you using?    ASP.NET MVC 4, ASP.NET MVC 3, WebForms, ...  -- what version of Visual Studio are you using?  vs2012 (ultimate, professional, express), vs2010, vs2008 ... -- are you hosting your own website?  are you using a shared hosting service? -- are you experience difficulties in just one browser? more than one browser? -- what browser version(s) are you using?   ie8? ie9? ... -- what is your operating system?     win8, win7, vista, XP, server 2008 R2 ... -- what is your database?   SQL Server 2008 R2, ss2005, MySQL, Oracle, ... -- what is your web server?  iis 7.5, iis 6, .... -- have you provided enough information for someone to be able to answer your question? Here's an actual example from an O.P. that i hope is self-explanatory: I'm trying to make a simple calculator when i write the code in windows application it worked when i tried it in web application it doesn't work and there are no errors what should i do ??!! -- have you included unnecessary information? more than once, i've seen the O.P. (original post, original poster) include many extra lines of code that were not relevant to the actual question; the more unnecessary code that you include, the less likely your volunteer peers will be motivated to donate their time to help you. -- have you asked the question that you want answered? "Does this dog bite?" -- are your expectations reasonable? -- generally, persons who are going to answer your questions are your peers ... they are unpaid volunteers ... -- are you looking for help with your homework, work assignment, or hobby? or, are you expecting someone else to do your work for you?  -- do you expect a complete solution or are you simply looking for guidance and direction? -- you are likely to get more help by first making a reasonable effort to help yourself first Clarity is important, both in question and in answer. if you are answering someone else's question, please remember that clear answers are just as important as clear questions; would you understand your own answer? Things to consider when answering: -- have you tested your code example?  if you have, say so; if you've not tested your code example, also say so -- imho, it's okay to guess as long as you clearly state that you're guessing ... sometimes a wrong guess can still help the O.P. find her/his way to the right answer -- meanness does not contribute to being helpful; sometimes one may become frustrated with the O.P. and/or others participating in a thread, if that happens to you, be kind regardless; speaking from my own experience, at least once i've allowed myself to be frustrated into writing something inappropriate that i've regretted later ... being a meany does not feel good ... being kind and helpful feels fantastic! Tip:  before asking your question, read more than a few existing questions and answers to get a sense of how your peers ask and answer questions. Gerry P.S.:  try to avoid necroposting and piggy backing. necroposting is adding to an old post, especially one that was resolved months ago. piggy backing is adding your own question to someone else's thread.

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