So What Do I Do?
Work With Computers Of Course...
At work, I strive for continuous self-improvement and make a study of each new subject my job touches. My entire professional life has been focused on technology.
Something that gives me great joy is sharing some of the knowledge I've stumbled upon over the course of my life. Below are a few Tips and Tricks I have recently learned on the job (or maybe at home - I can't get enough).
Tech Tricks and Tips
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Here is how to copy a file from a MAC machine to a remote Windows share without mounting. It uses the smbclient:
smbclient '\hostshare' password -D 'the/directory'
-U username -c 'put myfile.txt'
List All User Accounts on a MAC
Author: Adam T. Anthony
dscacheutil -q group
Changing ESX (Linux) IP Address
Author: Adam T. Anthony
esxcfg-vswif -d vswif0
esxcfg-vswif -a vswif0 -p Service Console -i NEW.IP.ADDRESS.HERE -n NEW.IP.NETMASK.HERE -b NEW.IP.BROADCAST.ADDRESS
Reinstall You EEE PC, Other Netbook or Any PC From Flash Disk
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Russian based Novicorp has released “Win-to-Flash”: http://wintoflash.com/home/en/
To prep a flash disk as a Windows installation disk, other methods require you to fdisk / diskpart, partition, format – using tools from lots of sources. “Win-to-Flash” is the easy way to go:
Install “Win-To-Flash”.
Insert your USB Flash Disk.
Insert you Windows Install CD.
Run “Win-To-Flash”.
Pick the source and destination disks.
Let it finish.
It’s that easy. I tested from Window 7, prepping a Windows XP install stick.
I’m 1/2 way through the Windows install on my EEE PC 900 Netbook.
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Author: Adam T. Anthony
CamStudio
http://camstudio.org/
Capture a video of your on-screen action – great for presentations, instructions, etc…
(I just tested on Windows 7 and it works great!)
THANKS KYLE!
Author: Adam T. Anthony
A vendor pointed me to this great comparison of “Windows SharePoint Services”(WSS) and “Microsoft Office SharePoint Services”(MOSS):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/fx101758691033.aspx?mode=print&ofcresset=1
One area that isn’t covered is cost: WSS is free with your Windows CALs, MOSS requires a SharePoint CAL. (Microsoft should call is a MOSS CAL !).
SharePoint Reinstall Road Blocks
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Here is how I resolved the problem.
Check out this KB first 925976 ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925976 ) .
This might fix the problem that I saw when I ran KB929665. I did not find this until later and I resolved the problem using the "brut force" method. Not graceful but successful.
Here were my steps:
1. Uninstall WSS 3.0
2. Uninstall .NET 3
3. Uninstall Windows Internal Database: (http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/f8abcf6e-b6ef-4872-bf51-1b89994700d51033.mspx?mfr=true)
4. Cleaned Registry as per 925976. I only found two keys: SQLGroup and FTSGroup)
5. Install AD
6. Install .NET 3
7. Install WSS 3.0
8. Restored Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 by using Central Administrator. I had previously setup scheduled tasks for Full and differential back-ups with a cmd line script using stsadm.exe
KB 929665 left out some key info. Here are the 2 cmd line that worked for me. I had to cd to the directory first. Putting the full path into the msiexec line did not work for me.
CD C:Program FilesMSECachewssv3database
Msiexec /i SSEE_10.msi CALLERID=OCSetup.exe REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=omus /qn REBOOT=ReallySupress /l*v C:sqlfix.log
SharePoint Server Name Change Then 404
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Change to this directory:
C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWeb Server Extensions12BIN>
Issue this command:
stsadm -o setconfigdb -databaseserver YOUR_NEW_SERVER_NAME–farmuser YOUR_NEW_SERVER_NAMEadministrator -farmpassword YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Get To Know Your | |
The Windows Logo Key is quite possibly the least used key but you may find it quite useful. | |
| Display or Hide the Start Menu |
| Display The System Properties Dialog Box |
| Toggle between minimizing all Windows to show the Desktop and Restoring all Windows |
| Minimize all Windows |
| Restore all Minimized Windows |
| Open MY COMPUTER |
| Display Help |
| Open The Run Dialog Box |
Microsoft Internet Explorer- TIP | |
| To have thewww.and the.com placed in the address automatically... |
| Go Directly To The Address Bar |
Windows - TIP | |
"NO to All" | |
During an application install, Windows may encounter a file already on the system. It will ask you to overwite it. There is an option to say "Yes To All" so it won't keep asking the question. | |
| No To All |
Author: Adam T. Anthony
http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Performance Testing For SQL Server - Free
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Author: Adam T. Anthony
If you have an NTFS partition you’d like to shrink or grow, then ‘ntfsresize’ can help. I won’t write a how to – there’s plenty out there, including the man page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntfsresize
It’s on the default ubuntu bootable CD – download that and you have everything you need, including the the unix style fdisk for adjusting the partition table after you’ve resized the file system.
Author: Adam T. Anthony
It’s the # in your username! : : http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2009/03/06/9463700.aspx
Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 11406
Date: 10/12/2009
Time: 1:32:38 PM
User: BKST#aanthony
Computer: DEMANDDEVSRVR
Description:
Product: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 -- Error 1406.Could not write value InstalledBy to key SOFTWAREMicrosoftUpdatesMicrosoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1KB953595. System error . Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 7b 43 45 32 43 44 44 36 {CE2CDD6
0008: 32 2d 30 31 32 34 2d 33 2-0124-3
0010: 36 43 41 2d 38 34 44 33 6CA-84D3
0018: 2d 39 46 34 44 43 46 35 -9F4DCF5
0020: 43 35 42 44 39 7d C5BD9}
Author: Adam T. Anthony
set yy=%DATE:~10,4%
set mm=%DATE:~4,2%
set dd=%DATE:~7,2%
set /a "yy=10000%yy% %%10000,mm=100%mm% %% 100,dd=100%dd% %% 100"
if %yy% LSS 100 set /a yy+=2000 &rem Adds 2000 to two digit years
set /a JD=dd-32075+1461*(yy+4800+(mm-14)/12)/4+367*(mm-2-(mm-14)/12*12)/12-3*((yy+4900+(mm-14)/12)/100)/4
set /a JD=%JD%+1
set /a L= %JD%+68569, N= 4*L/146097, L= L-(146097*N+3)/4, I= 4000*(L+1)/1461001
set /a L= L-1461*I/4+31, J= 80*L/2447, K= L-2447*J/80, L= J/11
set /a J= J+2-12*L, I= 100*(N-49)+I+L
set /a YYYY= I, MM=100+J, DD=100+K
set MM=%MM:~-2%
set DD=%DD:~-2%
set TOMORROW=%MM%/%DD%/%YYYY%
echo %TOMORROW%
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Access Corrupt or Damaged Windows Event Log Files
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Microsoft’s tools failed where FSPRO’s Event Log Explorer succeeded!
Thanks!
Install the Latest Adobe 9 Reader By GPO
Author: Adam T. Anthony
It is not as easy as it sounds…
Go to http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404146.html - it gives you some of the information you need.
Follow the link there to sign up and agree to the distribution agreement.
Adobe will send you an email to confirm you are who you say you are.
Then, they send you an email with links to ‘special’ copies of the software. Their site says this can take up to 3 days, but it took 10 minutes for me.
When you get the email with the links to the software, scroll down to the “updates” link.
From the “updates” page, select “Adobe Reader – Windows” from the drop down, and click “Go”. (Adobe Reader For – Macintosh is the default – pahsssss)
Download the following:
Adobe Reader 9.1 - multiple languages
Adobe Reader 9.1.3 update - Multiple Languages
Adobe Reader 9.1.2 Update - Multiple Languages
Adobe Reader 9.1.1 Update - Multiple Languages
+ any other updates that are available when you read this
(The updates are incremental)
Follow the instructions at http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404146.html to get the MSI and CAB files.
Put the MSI, CAB and the three MSPs (or as many as were available) in a directory together. Important: make sure the user group ‘everyone’ has full security rights on that directory.
Go to the command line, and change to that directory. Execute the following commands – accept all defaults for the GUIs that pop up:
C:someDirectory>msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd911_all_incr.msp
C:someDirectory >msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd912_all_incr.msp
C:someDirectory >msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd913_all_incr.msp
You will notice that the timestamp on the MSI will change with each command.
The resulting MSI + the original CAB file is your fully patch / fully up to date Adobe Reader package, and is GPO deployable.
Author: Adam T. Anthony
SQL Mail with SQL 2000 requires Outlook 2000, SP3 – but keep reading…
To patch Outlook 2000 to SP3, you must first update to Outlook 2000-SR1.
Microsoft no longer provides a stand-alone Office 2000 SR1 patch (that works). But, you can get the admin pack and patch your install source with this command:
msiexec /A "D:YOUR_OFFICE2KCD1_SRCDATA1.MSI" /p "D:YOUR_SR1_ADMIN_PATCH_SRCDATA1.MSP" SHORTFILENAMES=1
Then you can patch your actual installation from your patched source.
msiexec /i "D:YOUR_OFFICE2KCD1_SRCDATA1.MSI" REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus
Oh, but wait… there’s more…
The MSSQLSERVER and SQLSERVERAGENT services must be running as an actual user (not SYSTEM). You must login (to windows) as that user and create an Outlook (MAPI) mail profile from the user’s session.
AND… Outlook must be configured in the “Corporate or Workgroup” mode, or the message will end up in your inbox until Outlook is started. Yea, they’ll just sit there. Why do they go to your inbox? I don’t know. (this was my final stumbling block!)
AND… Make sure you have a real mail account – you can’t just push mail on your POP server, because outlook will attempt to send AND RECEIVE and will get hung up on the receive.
You can test your SQL Mail configuration with the following command (fill in your email address).
exec master.dbo.xp_sendmail @recipients='nobody@nowhere.com', @subject='Nothing…', @message='Oh, nevermind!'
Before your write to Microsoft and complain about all this, remember – you’re working with software from 10 years ago!
Autologon Trouble After GPO Change
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Auto logon (autologon, autologin, auto login) unexpectedly didn’t work on about 400 machines overnight. Ouch! No changes were made to the systems that related to login rights, and the autologon values were unchanged in the registry.
It was other changes, namely computer policies, delayed the boot process. The delay was enough to allow the screen saver to come on during the application of computer settings. Having the screen saver up before auto logon seems to prevent it.
You can reproduce the problem by setting HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop"ScreenSaveTimeOut"="60" (1 minute) and linking in a long computer startup script.
HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop applies to the console session pre-login.
To prevent the Screen Saver from interfering with your autologon settings, make the following Registry Changes:
[HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop]
"ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0"
"ScreenSaveTimeOut"="0"
"ScreenSaveActive"="0"
You may also want to turn off screen savers for all other users. That can be done with simple built in GPO settings.
Author: Adam T. Anthony
If you need to connect many machines with VNC, write a batch file with the following command.
start c:PATH_TO_VNCvncviewer.exe /shared /password VNCPASSWORD /scale 1/2 192.168.1.1
( /scale 1/2 make the window 1/2 size)
(THANKS K.M.)
Author: Adam T. Anthony
…reboot.
Install Windows Vista or Windows 7 From USB
Author: Adam T. Anthony
Here’s a step-by-step:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
I haven’t tried booting the USB stick yet, but I’m on the final step – copying from DVD to USB. The only gotcha that I hit was that my work station is Vista 32, and my Windows 7 source was 64; BOOTSECT.EXE was not compatible.
Work Related Writings On the Web
Below are some of my articles from EzineArticles
Putting Electronic Document Distribution to Work For Your Business
"Putting Electronic Document Distribution To Work For Your Business" is a guide for business administrators that want to automate the way documents are distributed inside or by their business. The article defines the scope of EDD, describes its benefits, details the features to look for in such a system, and touches on where to find this type of solution.
Moving Toward A Paperless Office
So you want to go paperless? Not sure where to start? The answer is literally right under your nose. If you have plans to eliminate or reduce your business's paper consumption and records storage, the best place to start looking is on your desk. The typical desk is loaded with paper - mail, file folders, notebooks - you name it. Chances are the paper that is filling your file cabinet, the file room or the third floor - whatever the case may be - passed over your desk or the desks of your colleagues.
July 30, 2010
2:48 am















