Ive been using Pidgeon for a while and really like it but couldnt get it to work with my webcam so have decided to go back to messenger. After setting it up again I couldnt belive how busy and cluttered the interface looked compared to Pidgeon. Here are the steps I took to get it running in as minimalist look as I could.
1) Under Tools/Options/Layout I turned off show favourties/groups/the tab bar/the whats new list.
2) Under Sign In I unticked Open Windows Live Messenger main window when windows live messenger starts. Also unticked show windows live today after I sign in to Messenger.
3) That sorted out the cluttered interface a bit but I still had these annoying ads popping up at the bottom. A quick google came up with the solution. Edit the hosts file and add the following entries.
# Windows Live Messenger ad servers
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 global.msads.net
127.0.0.1 rss.video.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ads1.msn.com
127.0.0.1 rad.live.com
The file can be found in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc. I had to open it with notepad then save the file to the desktop as it wouldnt let me save over the original. I then deleted the original and copied the file from the desktop to the correct folder which it let me do. Hey presto, no more ads.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Network timeout when updating my IPhone
I recently purchased an iPhone despite being adamently anti Apple and I have to say that I have been won over. What a great device compared to my old HTC Touch Pro. It isnt as configurable as my old phone but the user interface of the iPhone just blows it away. Anyway there are enough iPhone reviews on the net so I wont go on about how great it is.
Anyway I noticed that Apple had released a new update for the iPhone...version 3.1.3 I think it was. Great I thought, I'll update my phone and see what happens. Problem was, when using iTunes to attempt to update it I would just keep getting a network time out error when it got about halfway through. I saw that a few people on the net were having the same problem and tried some of the suggested fixes but nothing seemed to work, for some reason it just seemed to think that my internet connection was timing out. Queue moment of genius....I setup a continuous ping to google.com and tried again. Hey presto it downloaded just fine and update went without a hitch. I guess it just needed something to make the network / internet connection look like it was alive.
Cant say that I notice to many differences with the update but it was interesting to see how the update process worked.
I also just bought the iTap remote desktop client which I will write a bit more about at a later date. So far it is looking quite handy.
Anyway I noticed that Apple had released a new update for the iPhone...version 3.1.3 I think it was. Great I thought, I'll update my phone and see what happens. Problem was, when using iTunes to attempt to update it I would just keep getting a network time out error when it got about halfway through. I saw that a few people on the net were having the same problem and tried some of the suggested fixes but nothing seemed to work, for some reason it just seemed to think that my internet connection was timing out. Queue moment of genius....I setup a continuous ping to google.com and tried again. Hey presto it downloaded just fine and update went without a hitch. I guess it just needed something to make the network / internet connection look like it was alive.
Cant say that I notice to many differences with the update but it was interesting to see how the update process worked.
I also just bought the iTap remote desktop client which I will write a bit more about at a later date. So far it is looking quite handy.
Friday, February 5, 2010
More on RSAT Tools
so Ive been sick for a while and havent really posted anything lately but will hopefully be able to get back on the train again.
Still had quite a few people emailing me about the RSAT tools for Windows 7 which is strange considering that the RC is about to starting shuting down periodically (end of March sometime I think).
Anyway the tools should still be available via the link below at Rapidshare and sorry, but no I do not have the 64 bit version...only the 32 bit.
Happy trails.
Still had quite a few people emailing me about the RSAT tools for Windows 7 which is strange considering that the RC is about to starting shuting down periodically (end of March sometime I think).
Anyway the tools should still be available via the link below at Rapidshare and sorry, but no I do not have the 64 bit version...only the 32 bit.
Happy trails.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Symantec Endpoint and disappearing file shares
So it seems that Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 is trying to make my life difficult again when I really would prefer that it stays simple. One of my clients called me in a panic saying that her, and everyone elses, "My Computer" screen was empty. Convinced that this could not be the case and that the description she was giving was "erroneous" I told her not to worry and that I would be there soon.
Upon arrival I had a quick look at in Windows Explorer and My Computer and sure enough everything was gone, not just network drives but C: and D: as well. Strange, very strange. Looked at a couple of other workstations and sure enough everyone was the same. Quickly logged into the server thinking the worst (SBS 2008) and everything was exactly as it should be. All the files there, all the shares there and everything accessible. Not to worry, a quick restart should fix the problem and sure enough it did.....for about a week and then it all happened again. After a bit of trouble shooting (ok, a lot) I got round to checking out the AV and after a bit of googling I found a lot of other people having the exact or very similar problem.
No problem I thought, Ill just uninstall Endpoint...but Endpoint had different ideas. I tried to uninstall it but it refused to go and I ended up with a hung server. No choice but to hard power it down. Came back up again and it was half uninstalled. Ok try and uninstall again......hmmmm server hung again so have to hard power it down....again. Start back up.....server has crapped itself and tells me it will be shutting down in 1 minute. About now I am starting to get nervous. Server comes back up and I can log in but all sorts of services are failing and error messages are showing up in the logs. I bounce it again to give it a clean shutdown and restart and it seems to work ok. Decide to try reinstalling Endpoint to see if that will let me uninstall it. Seems to install ok......restart server.....buggeration, its stuffed again.
I continue until I strike some lucky combination of uninstalled and installed state where the server seems happy to come up and everything is working. I tentatively disable the on access scan and still everything works. Hurray, I can go home about 5 hours late.
I am now trying to get my hands on the Symantec Uninstall tool that they apparently have to get rid of the "software" once and for all. I mean, how good can a piece of software be that it needs to have a special tool written just to uninstall it properly.
So, I hear Kaspersky is pretty good, maybe Ill give that I go.
Upon arrival I had a quick look at in Windows Explorer and My Computer and sure enough everything was gone, not just network drives but C: and D: as well. Strange, very strange. Looked at a couple of other workstations and sure enough everyone was the same. Quickly logged into the server thinking the worst (SBS 2008) and everything was exactly as it should be. All the files there, all the shares there and everything accessible. Not to worry, a quick restart should fix the problem and sure enough it did.....for about a week and then it all happened again. After a bit of trouble shooting (ok, a lot) I got round to checking out the AV and after a bit of googling I found a lot of other people having the exact or very similar problem.
No problem I thought, Ill just uninstall Endpoint...but Endpoint had different ideas. I tried to uninstall it but it refused to go and I ended up with a hung server. No choice but to hard power it down. Came back up again and it was half uninstalled. Ok try and uninstall again......hmmmm server hung again so have to hard power it down....again. Start back up.....server has crapped itself and tells me it will be shutting down in 1 minute. About now I am starting to get nervous. Server comes back up and I can log in but all sorts of services are failing and error messages are showing up in the logs. I bounce it again to give it a clean shutdown and restart and it seems to work ok. Decide to try reinstalling Endpoint to see if that will let me uninstall it. Seems to install ok......restart server.....buggeration, its stuffed again.
I continue until I strike some lucky combination of uninstalled and installed state where the server seems happy to come up and everything is working. I tentatively disable the on access scan and still everything works. Hurray, I can go home about 5 hours late.
I am now trying to get my hands on the Symantec Uninstall tool that they apparently have to get rid of the "software" once and for all. I mean, how good can a piece of software be that it needs to have a special tool written just to uninstall it properly.
So, I hear Kaspersky is pretty good, maybe Ill give that I go.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
RSAT Tools for Windows 7 RC and Beta
I ended up reinstalling Windows 7 RC on a different computer just because it was time for a change however when I came to install the Remote Server and Administration tools (RSAT) I couldnt find my original download. No worries I thought, Ill just download them again from Microsoft however when I downloaded them I just got an error message that says "The update is not applicable to your computer". That had me scratching my head for a while as they definitely used to work. Turns out that the latest version of the tools that Microsoft released do not seem to be compatible with either the Beta or the RC and after searching around the net for a while, nobody seems to have them.
Luckily for me I was clearing up some old files today and I found the original install package for the RSAT tools.
If you need a copy of the tools then drop me an email at geoffcashmoney at gmail dot com and I will send you the rapidshare link.
Edit: I have been overwhelmed with people looking for this file so am just going to post the RSAT tools link up and can always up them again if they disappear....seems that someone linked to me from a Microsoft forum somewhere and lots of people are looking for these.
In answer to some common questions.....no it doesnt have a virus (but would I tell you if it did and I was trying to give it to you...sheesh) and the file name is the same as described in the link i.e. Windows6.1-KB958830-x86.msu
Cheers guys and gals.
http://rapidshare.com/files/274537551/Windows6.1-KB958830-x86.msu
UPDATE: - guys, I no longer have this so please stop asking. I don't know why anyone would still need them anyway as Windows 7 has been out for ages...why would you still be trying to use a beta release candidate?
Luckily for me I was clearing up some old files today and I found the original install package for the RSAT tools.
If you need a copy of the tools then drop me an email at geoffcashmoney at gmail dot com and I will send you the rapidshare link.
Edit: I have been overwhelmed with people looking for this file so am just going to post the RSAT tools link up and can always up them again if they disappear....seems that someone linked to me from a Microsoft forum somewhere and lots of people are looking for these.
In answer to some common questions.....no it doesnt have a virus (but would I tell you if it did and I was trying to give it to you...sheesh) and the file name is the same as described in the link i.e. Windows6.1-KB958830-x86.msu
Cheers guys and gals.
http://rapidshare.com/files/274537551/Windows6.1-KB958830-x86.msu
UPDATE: - guys, I no longer have this so please stop asking. I don't know why anyone would still need them anyway as Windows 7 has been out for ages...why would you still be trying to use a beta release candidate?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
HP ML110 G3 drive sizes
I have a HP ML110 G3 server at home that came with the original 80 GB disks. I was pretty much out of space on these drives and wanted to upgrade them however the specs on the HP website were somewhat vague as to what drives I could put in. In the end I just decided to fork out and try some drives so popped down to the local pc store and picked up 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5" internal SATA 16MB Cach 7200 RPM. Im happy to report that these work fine in my server (running SBS 2008).
All I had to do was backup the server to an external hard disk using the builtin Windows backup. Take the old disks out and put the new ones in, rebuild the raid array (SATA) so my mirror was up and going and then recover the windows image via the SBS DVD. Once recovered I thought there was a problem as I could log into the server but couldnt browse any drives or open the event log, services....pretty much anything. Decided that it must be doing something with the new drives so left it alone for an hour and sure enough when I came back there was a message saying a restart was needed for the new hardware so bounced the box and everything came back up hunky dory.
All up took about 3 hours for the whole thing...have to say I was very impressed with the Windows restore which really was quite painless and easy.
All I had to do was backup the server to an external hard disk using the builtin Windows backup. Take the old disks out and put the new ones in, rebuild the raid array (SATA) so my mirror was up and going and then recover the windows image via the SBS DVD. Once recovered I thought there was a problem as I could log into the server but couldnt browse any drives or open the event log, services....pretty much anything. Decided that it must be doing something with the new drives so left it alone for an hour and sure enough when I came back there was a message saying a restart was needed for the new hardware so bounced the box and everything came back up hunky dory.
All up took about 3 hours for the whole thing...have to say I was very impressed with the Windows restore which really was quite painless and easy.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Scheduled tasks could not start
I was having a problem running some scheduled tasks that I was using with SyncBack starting when scheduled. They would all run fine manually but when left to start at a scheduled time they were refusing to start. The error message I received was simple "could not start".
Turns out that there were 2 issues here. First was that I needed to put a path in the "start in" section of the properties of a scheduled task. Never had to do that before but it was definitely causing the first part of the problem.
Second issue was that I needed to alter my group policy settings so that the "log on as a batch job" permission was granted to the backup account that I was using to run the backup job (found under computer configuration\windows settings\security settings\local policies\user rights assignments\log on as a batch job. I added this in the default domain policy so that I could use the account anywhere in the domain but it wouldnt really matter where you made the change as long as the policy was applied to the OU the computer was in.
Simple really but took a fair bit of figuring out.
Roll on the weekend...
Turns out that there were 2 issues here. First was that I needed to put a path in the "start in" section of the properties of a scheduled task. Never had to do that before but it was definitely causing the first part of the problem.
Second issue was that I needed to alter my group policy settings so that the "log on as a batch job" permission was granted to the backup account that I was using to run the backup job (found under computer configuration\windows settings\security settings\local policies\user rights assignments\log on as a batch job. I added this in the default domain policy so that I could use the account anywhere in the domain but it wouldnt really matter where you made the change as long as the policy was applied to the OU the computer was in.
Simple really but took a fair bit of figuring out.
Roll on the weekend...
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