Windows 9x-Vista

Just got two more new certifications.

mikedopp — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:25:00 GMT

As you all know or now know I am a System Administrator at night. So I had to go through some serious tests to get these. Really! The Certifications are also known as “poke in the eye” or “put out the lights” on the Server,Workstation,Desktop or even Laptop. To get these Certifications you need to learn simple things like windows key –> U – S for shutdown or –R for Restart. This works on all Microsoft OS’s except for Vista and Server 2008. I am awaiting the special training on those.

Technorati Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

LiveJournal Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

Flickr Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

del.icio.us Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

IceRocket Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

43 Things Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

BuzzNet Tags: New Microsoft Certifications,Certified Restart Professional,Certified Shutdown Engineer,Certifiable,Spoof

Windows GUI Based MD5 Checker

mikedopp — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:04:19 GMT

Ever need a quick and dirty way to check the MD5 Hash on any compressed folder or executable?

At Work: Joe and I have had the occasional corrupt file from Microsoft and had to pull out of installing patches and such. This was a problem and a time waster. So in every deployment of any project we decided to be sticklers on checking the hashes. While yes there is a few utilities on the interweb or ExtraNet (both very bad slang for Internet) I have settled for the non installing executable to do my Hash Checking.

Some have even commented: "If your such a great developer why don’t you write your own?" I suppose I could however I have little time to rewrite the wheel.

Have a look and enjoy.

WinMD5 Web Site

winmd5free.zip

Hashes for safety:

WinMD5Free.zip MD5: 73f48840b60ab6da68b03acd322445ee

WinMD5Free.exe MD5: 944a1e869969dd8a4b64ca5e6ebc209a

Flickr Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

BuzzNet Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

Technorati Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

del.icio.us Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

IceRocket Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

LiveJournal Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

43 Things Tags: MD5, Free niche utility software of the week, WinMD5, Free

Increase Hard Drive Speeds in Windows

mikedopp — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:51:40 GMT

Warning this could cause unwanted issues with your hardware as well as your Operating System. Do this only if you feel comfortable doing so. Do not blame me if your Hard Drives life is decreased in any way.

Make sure you have 512megabytes of ram before doing this.

-Start > Run > then type SYSEDIT.EXE
-Expand the system.ini file window.
-Scroll down almost to the end of the file till you find a line called [386enh]
-Press Enter to make one blank line, and in that line type
Irq14=4096

NOTE: The above info for the new line is CASE SENSITIVE
- Select File > Save
- Close SYSEDIT and reboot your computer

Simple and works with Windows Xp - Vista.

Technorati Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

LiveJournal Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

Flickr Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

del.icio.us Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

IceRocket Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

43 Things Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

BuzzNet Tags: Increase Hard Drive Speeds,Improve Speed of Hard drive

Display Machine Details on Windows Server Login

mikedopp — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:35:56 GMT

If your like me you develop in multiple servers. Using Terminal Services is a easy way to move through these servers remotely and with ease. Often I have 6 or more Remote Sessions open at one time. This as you can well imagine can get very confusing. I got to the point I felt I needed better way to brand my Desktop sessions. I tried wallpaper which by the way works well also. However this trick works as a supplement to the wallpaper trick.This registry edit will add text to the login string on the login after you hit "ctrl alt delete" giving you a chance to identify the machine in case you get confused.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"welcome"="Good Times Enter your own welcome message here"

Make sure the "welcome" is a String when adding it to the registry.

Technorati Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

LiveJournal Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

Flickr Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

del.icio.us Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

IceRocket Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

43 Things Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

BuzzNet Tags: Display Details on Windows Login,Add Text to Login String,Ctrl Alt DEL,Microsoft

Mikes Retro Software of the week 3/2/08

mikedopp — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:39:10 GMT

It has been way too long. At least a month since I have posted a software of the week. So here is my pick for this week.

Ever need to mount a Linux formatted Hard drive in windows? To collect data hack your tivo/dvr?

This little app will allow windows to read and write EXT2 and 3 Partitions as well as fully formatted Hard drives.

Ext2 IFS Download

Best of all its free! This helps me when I need critical data off of my NAS (Linux OS based) that has crashed or is in need of repair.

It provides Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista with full access to Linux Ext2 volumes (read access and write access). This may be useful if you have installed both Windows and Linux as a dual boot environment on your computer.

The "Ext2 Installable File System for Windows" software is freeware.

It installs a pure kernel mode file system driver Ext2fs.sys, which actually extends the Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating system to include the Ext2 file system. Since it is executed on the same software layer at the Windows NT operating system core like all of the native file system drivers of Windows (for instance NTFS, FASTFAT, or CDFS for Joliet/ISO CD-ROMs), all applications can access directly to Ext2 volumes. Ext2 volumes get drive letters (for instance O:). Files, and directories of an Ext2 volume appear in file dialogs of all applications. There is no need to copy files from or to Ext2 volumes in order to work with them.

Technorati Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

LiveJournal Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

del.icio.us Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

IceRocket Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

43 Things Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

BuzzNet Tags: Mikes Retro Software of the week,mikedopp.com,mikedopp,Linux,Microsoft,Windows and Linux

Windows Server 2003 - IIS6.0 Do not delete the Default Web Site!

mikedopp — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:05:56 GMT

I being a very intelligent web developer (This is true). Decided it might be fun to delete the Default Web Site in IIS6.0 not thinking much of it. Of course it wouldn’t have mattered at all, at least until I decided to install commerce server 2007 enterprise on the production server that I had deleted the Default Web Site.

Why was this a problem you ask? Wow good question. Here’s the long and short of it.

When installing Microsoft Commerce Server 2007 sp1 you can get about oh I’d say 5 minutes into the install until you get to Web Site configuration settings. You put your user name in the little sign in box as well as your password like any good little wizard following monkey. Then terror err I mean error strikes you. The error says hey idiot I cannot find your "Default Web Site" you cannot continue. Well gall darn you say I will just right click on the web site folder and create a new web site called "Default Web Site". Ah doesn’t that feel better? You say to the Monkey wizard (Commerce Server 2007 sp1 config wizard). No says the error again. So you jump up and down screaming at the server. What the brown bananas do you mean its right there!

Well turns out that there is a super er... uber secret metadatabase that keeps a ID stored for every site created and the one you just created "Default Web Site" is W3SVC/890987799887.... on and on for about 6 more decimals. Problem is Windows likes the "Default Web Site" to be W3SVC/1. What do you do? Uninstall IIS? Holy foolish that would be.

Try this before moving on.

There is a fun little vb script built just for this occasion. "adsutil"! Remember it and love it.

First we need to make sure there for whatever reason isn’t a W3SVC/1 already there ( I know you are saying: but the story you took me down this long path and....) No worries its always good to dot your T’s and Cross your I’s or is that wrong too?

Go to your nearest command prompt.

make sure you are at the root of C:\

cd\Inetpub\AdminScripts

once there run this: cscript adsutil.vbs enum w3svc/1

If it comes back with "path requested could not be found" you know your hosed.

Try this: cscript adsutil.vbs enum w3svc

All kinds of data will fly by and the world will turn upside down (unless you are in Australia. However if you are there you are smart enough not to delete the web site in the first place.).

You should get: w3svc/Info w3svc/Filters and at least one w3svc/### where the number is the interesting part.

To find your new default web site number will take some looking up. Hunt by using this: cscript adsutil.vbs enum w3svc/### putting the numbers you saw in the list.

Ok the good part.

Create the new W3SVC/1

cscript adsutil.vbs create_vserv W3SVC/1

Copy it

cscript adsutil.vbs copy W3SVC/### W3SVC/1

Set It

cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/1/ServerComment "Default Web Site"

So now you have a new Default Web Site and you now know not to delete it again or there will be consequences.

Technorati Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

LiveJournal Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

del.icio.us Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

IceRocket Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

43 Things Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

BuzzNet Tags: IIS,Default Web Site,Deleted Default Web Site,Microsoft Server 2003,Command Prompt,IIS6.0

Vista Memory Issues: How to clear the memory without a 3rd party application

mikedopp — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:27:20 GMT

I believe it was Joe Levi who was running into vista vs. Visual Studio 2005 memory issues while compiling our latest build of www.lifetime.com . We both run Vista as our development environment (We watched all the sessions at mix07 and vista looked like it worked fine with Visual Studio 2005 + 2 hours of patches). We did some MSDN surfing and found a way to clear the memory within Windows Vista ( basically it kills all idle running applications).

Here is how:

Create a shortcut:

Add Location of Shortcut:

"%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks"

Click Next, Change the name of your shortcut:

To:

Then Finish.

Extra Credit:

Set up a the windows task manager to run this task every oh half hour or so.

Feel free to use the XML provide to update your task. Courtesy of Joe Levi:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.2" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
<RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>2008-02-26T10:20:16.4557818</Date>
    <Author>*Add Your Info Here*</</Author>
    <Description>%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks</Description>
</RegistrationInfo>
<Triggers>
    <TimeTrigger id="502f2271-c7c8-428a-9ac6-47359a741e19">
      <Repetition>
        <Interval>PT30M</Interval>
        <StopAtDurationEnd>false</StopAtDurationEnd>
      </Repetition>
      <StartBoundary>2008-02-26T07:00:00</StartBoundary>
      <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT30M</ExecutionTimeLimit>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    </TimeTrigger>
</Triggers>
<Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>*Add Your Info Here*</UserId>
      <LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
      <RunLevel>HighestAvailable</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
</Principals>
<Settings>
    <IdleSettings>
      <Duration>PT10M</Duration>
      <WaitTimeout>PT1H</WaitTimeout>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>false</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>true</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT0S</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
    <RestartOnFailure>
      <Interval>PT5M</Interval>
      <Count>3</Count>
    </RestartOnFailure>
</Settings>
<Actions Context="Author">
    <Exec>
      <Command>%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe</Command>
      <Arguments>advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks</Arguments>
    </Exec>
</Actions>
</Task>

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

LiveJournal Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

del.icio.us Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

IceRocket Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

43 Things Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

BuzzNet Tags: Clear Memory Vista,Vista,Windows Vista,Windows,mikedopp,mikedopp.com,System Config

Force Windows Vista to update with a little scripting.

mikedopp — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:01:36 GMT

Windows Vista SP1 is set to be released any moment. If you want to get a jump on the download and install that takes multiple restarts and a full 2 hours. At least for me. However once it is installed Service Pack 1 really feels smooth.

Here is the script to change your registry to allow for the windows update download:

@echo off

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSp1 /f > NUL 2>&1
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP1 /f > NUL 2>&1

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSp1 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d dcf99ef8-d784-414e-b411-81a910d2761d /f
IF NOT %errorlevel% == 0 ( goto ERROR)

:SUCCESS
@echo.
echo ===========================================================
echo Windows Vista SP1 registry key has been set successfully.
echo Please check for updates in Windows Update.
echo ===========================================================
@echo.
goto END

:ERROR
@echo.
echo ===========================================================
echo FAILED to set Windows Vista SP1 registry keys.
echo Please run this script by right clicking and selecting
echo "Run as Administrator".
echo ===========================================================
@echo.
goto END

:END
pause

Or feel

free to download

file (will need adminstrator permissions to install)

Technorati Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

LiveJournal Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

del.icio.us Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

IceRocket Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

43 Things Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

BuzzNet Tags: Vista SP1,Hack,Registry Edit,Microsoft,Windows Vista

Windows Vista SP1 Stole my Snipping tool!

mikedopp — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:09:43 GMT

One of the great features of Windows Vista is the Snipping tool. It is just about the only redeeming application in Windows Vista.

However when I installed Service Pack 1 The Snipping tool was gone. So a digging I went trying to find the root of the snipping tool to reactivate it.

Here is the how to:

"Go to Control Panel and open Program and Features (you may have to click Programs first). In the task pane on the left, click Turn Windows features on or off. If necessary, click Continue when prompted by User Account Control. Scroll through the list of features, check the box next to Tablet PC Optional Components, and click OK. Turning on these features gives you not only the Snipping Tool, but also the Tablet PC Input Panel, Windows Journal, and other stylus-related features."

Thanks pcworld you saved my Snipping life.

BuzzNet Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

del.icio.us Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

IceRocket Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

LiveJournal Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

43 Things Tags: Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Snipping Tool, Windows Journalling Software, The Snipping Tool

Free niche utility software of the week 2/25/08

mikedopp — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:33:23 GMT

Free Video to Flash Converter.

Convert video to flash (SWF or FLV) to publish video on your web site or blog.

Convert *.avi, *.mpeg, *.mpg, *.mp4, *.m4v, *.wmv, *.asf, *.mov, *.qt, *.3gp, *.3g2, *.dvr-ms. *.flv video files to ready for web *.flv and *.swf files.

For example convert avi to flv, mp4 to flv, mpeg to flv, mpg to flv, wmv to flv, mov to flv, 3gp to flv.

Free Video to Flash Converter contains no spyware or adware. It’s clearly free and absolutely safe to install and run.

*It’s free for both personal and commercial use.

FreeVideoToFlashConverter.exe

BuzzNet Tags: Niche Software, Freeware, Utility, Free niche utility software of the week

Technorati Tags: Niche Software, Freeware, Utility, Free niche utility software of the week

del.icio.us Tags: Niche Software, Freeware, Utility, Free niche utility software of the week

IceRocket Tags: Niche Software, Freeware, Utility, Free niche utility software of the week