Category: Geek Stuff

From the “better late than never” department:

If you’re one of the last people that prefers IE 6 to IE 7, you might want to tread carefully when it comes to installing SP3 for Windows XP on your computer.

If you have IE 7 installed before the SP3 upgrade, you will not be able to go back to IE 6 once SP3 is installed. According to this article, this is “because the service pack includes newer versions of the old browser’s files. If Microsoft had allowed users to revert back to the pre-SP3 version of IE6 – the one saved on users’ PCs when they upgraded to IE7, and what was used until now to back out of the newer browser – Windows would have ended up in a ‘mixed file state’. This state is not supported and is very bug prone. To ensure a reliable user experience, [Microsoft] prevent[ed] this broken state by disabling the ability to uninstall Internet Explorer 7”.

If you want to retain the ability to uninstall IE 7 from your computer, remove IE 7 before installing SP3, then reinstall IE 7 once the Service Pack update is complete.

Have you ever wanted (or needed) to have one of your technically-challenged friends download a file via BitTorrent? It can be a huge pain, because that friend would need to install a BT client, go to a tracker and download the torrent file, and then seed it to completion. Hell, a lot of my “less than technical” friends can’t even wrap their heads around BT lingo, much less actually download stuff.

This is where Torrent2Exe comes in. You upload a torrent to the site (either via direct URL or from a local torrent) and the site packages the file along with a lightweight BT client. All the end user has to do is download (and execute) the packaged EXE file… really folks, BT just couldn’t be any easier!

If you like the desktop animations provided with Windows Vista, but aren’t ready to trash Windows XP just yet, you might enjoy a handy lil’ freeware app with a strange name: Lebendig. Lebendig adds Vista-like animations to program windows in Windows XP. You can have windows fade in and\or out, spin in and\or away, or lots of other nifty combinations.

I really like this lil’ app, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to play well with Outlook 2007. Once you start Lebendig, minimizing Outlook causes the app to “disappear”. You can try to maximize it again (and you’ll briefly see the full-screen Outlook window), but then the Outlook window will simply “disappear”. The only way to get it back is to use Task Manager to kill OUTLOOK.EXE and start the program over again (but remember, you can’t minimize it again!). Also note that I’ve only seen this behavior with Outlook 2007 – other programs seem to work just fine with Lebendig (although I’ve only tested the few apps that are on my system).

I like Lebendig – I just wish they’d fix that Outlook bug.

This post over at istartedsomething.com talks about a (possible) groovy new feature in Windows 7: built-in support for virtual hard drive (VHD) files.

VHD files are the “virtual hard drives” used in Microsoft’s virtualization software, like Virtual PC and Virtual Server. Normally, one installs Virtual PC on a Windows XP or Windows Vista computer, then generates a VHD file to act as a “virtual hard drive” for a virtual computer. You then install Windows XP, Windows Server, or whatever operating system you need on that virtual hard drive. You can then boot up the virtual machine and use it exactly as you would a “real” computer.

Adding native support for VHD files means that you could boot directly into a VHD file without having to run Virtual PC on the computer. This would allow you to run VHD computers at “native speed” without first loading a host OS. Even better, you could have multiple virtual hard drives on a system: you could have a “work” virtual hard drive (with Office, QuickBooks, and whatever else you need to do your job) as well as a “play” virtual hard drive (with games and music files). And if Microsoft’s talk about Windows 7 is to be believed, you could even optimize the “play” VHD for gaming by giving Windows 7 the smallest possible footprint.

There are also huge implications for system administrators, too. With Windows 7, an administrator might be able to make an VHD image using Virtual PC, then push that image out to corporate desktops so that everyone is using the same desktop computer image. Now that would be cool!

Any thoughts about this?

As I mentioned in the “I’m Back” post from the other day, I went to Asheville this past weekend to attend a family wedding. On the drive home, Lisa and I stopped to pee at a convenience store somewhere in the sticks. As I walked in the store, a video game caught my eye. I stopped to look at the screen and saw this:

(Click to enlarge)

There are hundreds of websites out that that have pictures of Windows error messages on ATMs, airport arrival\departure screens and giant billboards (think Times Square).

I’ve always wanted to be able to post my own picture… and now I can!

And BTW, you might notice the EA logo on the side of the console! 🙂

Many folks don’t know that when you delete a file in Windows, that file isn’t really “deleted”.

You see, Windows keeps track of everything on your hard drive using something called a “Master File Table” (MFT) or “File Allocation Table” (if you’re one of the 4 people left still running Windows 98 and the FAT32 file system). When you delete a file, the file’s entry in the MFT\FAT is erased, and the space is marked as “free”. But the actual data is still there, and it will remain there until it’s overwritten by a new file. And even when the data is overwritten, it’s possible for computer forensics types to figure out what files were originally there.

The only real way to “delete” a file in Windows is to take the space where the data was located and overwrite it with random data from 7 to 35 times. Some programs, like DBAN, will overwrite all the data on an entire hard drive, which is good for when you want to donate old computers to charity, and want to be 100% certain that any data on the drives is gone.

But what about securely erasing data on computers that you need to keep using? DBAN will wipe out an entire hard drive – thus rendering your computer useless. What if you want (or need) to securely delete just a few files? What if you work with medical patient information and need a means of completely removing any data files, but keeping all of your other files intact?

I like Eraser. This free, open-source program adds an “Erase” option to Windows Explorer’s context menu. Just select the file(s) you want to erase, then right-click and select “Erase”. Eraser will then overwrite the file(s) using the Guttmann, US DoD 5220-22.M method, or with pseudo-random data. It can also erase Internet Explorer’s index.dat file, “Temporary Internet Files” and cookies, erase free space, erase the contents of the Recycle Bin, erase network files, floppy disks, CD-RW, DVD-RAM and DVD-RW discs, and erase the page (swap) file. Oh, and it works with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and DOS! It’s a great little program – did I mention that it’s also free? – and is a quick and easy way to remove any trace of files on your computer!

Self Extracting Archive (SFX) files are archive files (like .ZIP or .RAR files) that have been converted to .EXE files that can run on any Windows computer. The appeal is obvious – if the IT department needs to send out an “emergency patch” for a home-grown application, they can convert a ZIP or RAR file to an EXE file that doesn’t need WinZIP or WinRAR installed. The user doesn’t have to do anything other than double-click the EXE file to extract the contents.

Us IT folk have to put a SFX file together every so often. Most of us have our favorite programs for doing this. I prefer the old, trusty WinRAR. Others prefer WinZIP. Programmers may require something more powerful, like Advanced Installer or a Nullsoft Scriptable Install.

But what do you do when you don’t have access to your favorite SFX creator?

You might not know this, but Windows has one built right in: IEXPRESS.EXE. Click click Start > Run and type iexpress.exe and press the ENTER button. An IExpress installer can extract files only or extract files then run a command. You can also customize your installer with custom titles, EULA screen and final dialog boxes.

You might find IEXPRESS lacking some of the more advanced features of other installers, but it sure could come in handy in a pinch!

Click here to read more about IEXPRESS at TechNet.

There are two general types of operating system in this world: server operating systems and desktop operating systems. As a rule, server operating systems are built for stability and security, while desktop operating systems – the kind you run on your personal PC – are built for flexibility and accessibility.

As a general rule, you don’t want to run a server operating system on your desktop PC. In fact, the only people that should run a server OS on their desktop or laptop computers are people that write software for servers, Quality Assurance (QA) testers, and certain IT guys that use their computers for testing purposes. But that hasn’t stopped a few misguided people that think it’s “cool” or “edgy” from running a server on their desktop. You know the type – “Look at me! I’m too cool for Windows XP! I’m running Windows Server 2003!”

And so, for the past few years, both myself and most of the posters at the Ars Technica forums have heaped scorn and ridicule upon people that run Windows Server 2003 as their desktop operating system. But then Windows Vista came out. And then Windows Server 2008 came out and changed everything.

As I noted in my News for 03/12/2008 post, many people are finding out the Windows Server 2008 can be easily tweaked to look and feel almost just like Windows Vista, yet Server 2008 runs around 20-30% faster than Vista on the same hardware. I found these numbers intriguing, and did some additional research… which led me to this site, which offers a free guide for tweaking Server 2008 to make it look like Windows Vista. I got myself a free copy of Windows Server 2008 (thanks, Microsoft!) and went to town. I eventually ended up with this:

Yep, that’s Server 2008 running on my desktop PC (click the picture to “embiggen”). It does, in fact, look and act like Windows Vista. But it’s not 20% faster than Vista on my computer… it seems like it’s 40% faster than Windows Vista! In fact, I couldn’t be happier with what I’ve experienced so far. Running Windows Vista on my computer – a circa 2003 Asus P4GE-V motherboard with a Northwood P4 (3.06GHz with HT), 2GB of RAM, a Radeon x1300 Pro video card and three PATA hard drives – was like installing Windows XP on a P133 with 32MB of RAM. But Windows Server 2008 – even with the eye candy turned on – only feels slightly slower than Windows XP on this box. In fact, Server 2008 acts like what I thought Vista would act like on this computer!

Feel free to try this out for yourself – I’m actually dying to find out if it works as well for you as it does for me. Keep in mind, though, that there are a few caveats to running a Windows Server operating system. Some programs are incompatible with Server 2008 (they most likely wouldn’t run under Vista, either). Also, many system utilities – such as disk defraggers and anti-virus apps – will check the operating system when you try to install them, see the word “Server” in the name and refuse to install. In most cases, the reason for this is not technical, but one of greed. Since it’s mostly companies that run servers, and since companies have deep pockets, many vendors offer a “Home” or “Personal” edition of their software for home users and a (much more expensive) “Professional” or “Server” version for servers. Although in most cases the software is exactly the same, the prices sure aren’t.

If you decide to run Windows Workstation 2008 (or are already running it), please leave a comment and tell me how it’s going for you!

I’ve been to lots of Microsoft product launches in my day… and yesterday’s launch of Windows Server 2008 – Visual Studio 2008 – SQL Server 2008 was no exception. Some random thoughts about the event:

The presenter was good. Yesterday’s presenter was young(ish), bald, energetic, slightly goofy, and easy to understand. Which was a huge plus, since Charlotte usually has some English guy that mumbles and stammers (ever seen The Simpsons or Family Guy do an impression of Hugh Grant? He’s just like that.)

The material was pretty good. I don’t know if Microsoft considers Charlotte to be a second- or third-tier market, but most MS events in this area work this way: some guy (and it’s usually a guy) that might (or might not) have good public speaking skills is picked to host an event. He then picks his favorite 800 new features in [product]. He then sets up virtual machine demos for each of those 800 new features. At the presentation, he begins by giving an overview of the new features in [product], then starts the demos. By demo 4, he’s figured out that he can’t possibly do all 796 remaining demos in the time alloted… but instead of choosing his 10 favorite (or the “most important”) features from the remaining demos and carrying them to completion, he’ll try to blast his way through the remaining 796 demos, barely getting 3 steps into some 19 step process. So after demo 4, most of the rest of his demos are like this: “OK, the next cool new feature of Windows Vista is “Previous Versions”… I have a demo here and… OK, here’s what we do… we open a Word document… and delete all the text in it [audience gasps]… we then save the document [audience gasps louder]… OK, so your user has now accidentally overwritten the document, right? Well, we just right-click the document… and click the “Previous Version” tab… and you can see the document’s history… I’m going to pick the version I saved last night… annnnnnddd… annndddd… you’ll have to forgive me, folks, I’ve got 5 virtual machines running on this laptop… Hmmmm.. well, if we had the time, you’d see the same document as before, instantly restored. OK, so on to User Access Control!” It’s annoying – thankfully, yesterday’s event had none of that.

The schwag was… Attendees received copies of Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and the CTP of SQL Server 2008 (with the option to get the full version when released). This is nothing to sneeze at, of course… it’s several thousand dollars worth of free software. But there were no t-shirts, no pens, no notepads. Heck, I was even expecting to get a bunch of ads and “special offers” from the “launch partners” in a plastic bag along with the software. But no – all I got was the software, held in place by a rubber band:

That is exactly what was handed to me. Man, is MS getting cheap or what? They also sprang for “breakfast”, which was a paper bag with a blueberry muffin, orange, apple, granola bar and “fun size” Baby Ruth and Milky Way bars. People in larger cities reported that they got their breakfast in “nifty insulated plastic lunch bags” (like this). I just got a damn paper bag!

The Server 2008 license is interesting. The Windows Server 2008 license is technically valid for only 1 year. It is not timebombed in any way, and our presenter said that Microsoft has no problem with anyone using this software for as long as they want, provided that they don’t use it on a production machine. So why the “1 year EULA limit”? It’s apparently because if they gave away shrink-wrapped copies, they’d have to have everyone fill out a 1099 form and pay tax on it. This way, MS can claim that it’s a “demo version” and the value is therefore zero. What’s surprising is that our presenter told us all this straight-up. MS is basically thumbing their noses at the Treasury Department, and is plainly, out in the open, telling everyone that this is a tax dodge!

The Charlotte Convention Center is weird. Charlotte’s new light rail system has a line running directly through the Convention Center. The smoking decks are right next to the rail lines… as in, I could have spit on a passing train if I wanted to. The trains run on electricity, and there are some high-voltage tracks out there… so there are signs out in the smoking areas warning people to NOT jump the rail in case of fire, but instead of go back inside the building and exit on 2nd Street. I know this sounds snarky, but I’ve always heard that the last thing you want to do in case of fire is go back inside a burning building. Hmmmm.

The Westin is funny! When you take the College Street exit from I-277, you’re dumped onto College, which is a one-way street. I normally pass the Westin Hotel’s parking deck to park at a lot directly across from the Convention Center. This time, I opted to park at the Westin (which turned out to be a good move, as the lot I would have parked in was full, and it’s giant pain in the ass to get back to the Westin deck). Anyway, as I stood waiting for the elevator in the Westin parking deck, I noticed some business cards in a holder mounted just above the call button. The cards said “You are parked on level…”. Westin has cards with the parking level printed on them, so you can remember where you parked when it’s time to leave. It’s a nice touch… only the name of my parking level was…

Sweet! Westin named their parking deck after a bowel movement!