// September 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Computers, Server, Windows
This isn’t exactly news, but is still fairly recent, and under-marketed enough to deserve a mention. The folks in Redmond call it DreamSpark, and it’s a pretty sweet deal for high school and college students. They’ll let you use many of their high dollar enterprise products (e.g. Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL 2008, etc.) for free.
// July 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Computers, Windows
The Windows Installer Service is the subsystem that Windows provides for adding or removing software. Many software applications rely upon the Windows Installer Service, and they cannot be removed cleanly (or easily) if it’s not working. Most of the time it works fine, but there are always exceptions.
There are many situations that can occur where you may find yourself stuck in “Safe Mode” trying to remove a program (e.g. a program crashes your computer while it’s trying to boot). This is complicated by the fact that the Windows Installer Service will not run in “Safe Mode”.
Thankfully, there is a kind gentleman named Harry Bates that wrote a freeware tool called SafeMSI. It will enable the Windows Installer Service while Windows is running in “Safe Mode”. The usage of this tool is simple:
// May 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // Computers, Windows
iTunes. It’s the undeniable standard for music playback and management on computers. It’s not a one-trick pony though, as its capabilities enable an entire eco-system of products to obtain content. If a (wagon) wheel in the sky keeps on turning, then iTunes is the hub to which all of the spokes connect.
Impressive.
For being such an important software package, it’s surprisingly light on user customizable features. For example, way back when iTunes 4.5 was released (>5 years ago), a small arrow showed up next the songs in your Library. It looks like this:
The arrow doesn’t behave in a manner that provides the best user experience, but it does behave in a manner that ensures the most user exposure to the iTunes Store. It’s not a show-stopper, but it’s a nuisance.
Thankfully, there is a very unintuitive way to make the arrows capable of working for you. Simply Ctrl-Left click the arrow and it takes you to similar content in your Library. It makes getting around your music Library much easier.
I don’t know of a method to make this the default behavior with iTunes for Windows. If I ever discover one, I’ll be sure to share it here. It would also be great if this could become a preference, but I won’t hold my breath.
Happy Ctrl-Left clicking your way to a more enjoyable iTunes experience!
// February 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Computers, Server, Windows
Simple answer, Yes.
Why? Windows Home Server (WHS) has a pretty strong value proposition. Over the past holiday season (December 2009 ), HP MediaSmart Servers were available for $199 (USD). That’s a complete computer system to store your files, and do some amazing things…
How? If you want more performance than a nettop-style HP MediaSmart server, you can do that too. My own WHS is made of spare parts leftover from upgrades to other computers, but still far outclasses the HP MediaSmart servers. If you go the DIY route, target your hardware to the Windows Server 2003 (32-bit) platform. SBS 2003 (Small Business Server) is at the core of WHS. I gather this is just for the limitations of SBS, as you won’t find Exchange 2003 hiding anywhere.
Where? If you want an HP MediaSmart server, I’d keep an eye on dealnews.com. For the DIYer, an OEM license of WHS is available for about $100 (USD) from newegg.com.
// November 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Computers, Windows
I am very frequently asked my opinion on what software to use to get something done. These requests run the gamut from, “What’s the best accounting software for my brother-in-laws business?” to “What can I use to download videos from YouTube?”. Any question that never has a wrong answer, and multiple right answers is a good question to me. I change my answers (opinions) as the world, and I, evolve. This epic will change with my opinions. The descriptions and opinions are intentionally non-technical. After all, most of the time the folks asking me for technical advice are not technical people.
Let the alphabetically-sorted-by-category opinions begin…
// Anti-virus
Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials
Free for non-commercial home use
It doesn’t slow down your computer or use a lot of memory. It does a very comprehensive job of protecting your computer from viruses. Basically, the exact opposite of the Norton and McAfee products that you’ve been convinced are worth the money.
// Clean-up (New Windows computer)
Free for non-commercial home use
The first time you turn on a new Windows computer that you purchased from Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc., you are presented with a wheelbarrow full of shit bags. That may be an exaggeration, but the need to rid the machine of trial software, toolbars, and offers for free shit with strings attached should not be underestimated. Use this to dump the wheelbarrow.
// Photography
Free
This is a one-stop-shop for most digital photography needs. If you need more than this…you probably don’t need me telling you what software to use.
// Web Browser
Free
Fast and clean makes it the best on the scene.
// YouTube Downloader
Free
It downloads YouTube video files and converts them so that they playback easily on your computer.
To be continued…
// April 13th, 2009 // 8 Comments » // Computers, Windows
Moving Windows XP from Intel to AMD will cause a BSOD during startup (STOP 0x07E). Instead of starting over, (i.e. format and reinstall of Windows) spend fifteen minutes following the steps below. You will be rewarded with a working computer.
// October 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Windows
Reposted from November 7, 2007
I’ve been thinking over recent months about backing up some things on my computer that I’d prefer not to lose. Things like the “My Documents” folder, web browser favorites (and bookmarks), the single-file backup of the server that served what you’re reading right now…you know, stuff I should have a backup of.
Until now, I’ve relied entirely on an external USB hard drive that always has a fairly current image of the entire computer. While it provides some level of protection, it doesn’t do anything for the odd “act of god” that can happen now and again. I’ve wanted online backup that’s reliable, but also cost-friendly for home use. I believe I’ve found exactly that…
The name is lame. Mozy. It sounds like it might do a lazy job of just mozying around until it decides to backup my bytes. Good thing I didn’t stop when I first read the name, or I would have missed out on an amazing service.
A relatively small download and quick install and I was ready to begin backing up my files. It went ahead and picked out what it thought was best. Not bad, but it exceeded the 2GB of gratis storage you’re given. I hadn’t even gotten this service out of Park and into Drive yet…so, I cut out “My Pictures” and the backup set dropped to a reasonable 59MB. A minimal interface packed cleanly into a small window is central command for Mozy. I clicked a button and it began “encoding” my files. After a minute or two, it began to upload those files to the Mozy service. A few minutes after that it was done.
Restoring is the most important part of any backup system. Having a backup of data you can’t restore won’t do you any good. It’ll probably just make a bad situation feel really bad. Mozy seems to have a handle on this concept and they have taken some good approaches to getting your data back to you. You have four data delivery choices:
The only limit to this wonderful service is a very generous 2GB storage limit for free accounts. The 2GB storage limit can be converted to unlimited storage for $4.95/month (USD). This makes it one of the least expensive online backup services I’ve ever seen.
// October 23rd, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Computers, Windows
Seriously. If you want to print from a Vista computer but your printer is shared by another computer running Windows XP, then you need to hack up your XP registry a bit. Apparently, no one at Microsoft has yet come to believe this is worth fixing. The Microsoft recommended fix is just to install Vista everywhere, right? Well, that’s wrong. The less obvious (but more productive) fix is for XP.
Learn how to increase your IRPStackSize from the folks @ Microsoft…
For a point of reference on what number to land on…I went with 30 (values between 3-50 are valid on XP). The HP LaserJet 1200 (PCL) I was trying to share then worked like a charm.
