Raghav's Blog

Disable Root SSH Login on Linux

2012-01-05T20:56:00.001-08:00

#vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find this section in the file, containing the line with “PermitRootLogin” in it.

    #LoginGraceTime 2m
    #PermitRootLogin no
    #StrictModes yes
    #MaxAuthTries 6

Make the line look like this to disable logging in through ssh as root.

    PermitRootLogin no

Then restart the sshd service:

   # /etc/init.d/sshd restart

Quickly Open Network Connections in Windows 7

2011-12-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

In Windows XP we can easily find network connections by right clicking on connection icon and select “open network connections“. But finding network connection in Windows 7 or Vista is bit different from XP. So lets see how we can easily open network connections from run or command line, also how to create shortcut to open network connections.

Open network connections from run in Windows 7 or Vista

Press Windows Key + R type ncpa.cpl in Run window and hit Enter

Create shortcut to open network connections in Windows 7 or Vista

Step-1

Right click on desktop, Click New and select Create Shortcut

Step-2

Type ncpa.cpl in the text field and press Next button

Step-3

Type the name of network connections shortcut and press Finish button

Step-4

Now double click on shortcut that you have created on desktop to open network connections

Ubuntu Shutdown Automatically

2011-12-19T01:28:00.000-08:00

Looking for an easy way to shutdown Ubuntu automatically? If you need to shutdown Ubuntu at, for example, midnight everyday, you’ll have to schedule a task that will run at midnight to perform or carry-out such action. If you need help with that, then this brief tutorial will show you how to do it.This guide shows you how to schedule a task in Ubuntu to automatically shutdown at a specific time daily. This is a great way to make sure that your PC isn’t running at times when on one is using it.
Objectives:

Schedule tasks in Ubuntu to automatically shutdown
Enjoy!

To get started, press Ctrl – Alt – T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the commands below to install gnome-schedule.

sudo apt-get install gnome-schedule

radmin@radmin-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install gnome-schedule

After installing, launch gnome-schedule and schedule tasks.

sudo gnome-schedule

radmin@radmin-desktop:~$ sudo gnome-schedule

Next, select ‘New –> Recurrent task’

Then enter the description and the command to shutdown Ubuntu. The command is:
/sbin/poweroff

Select ‘Advanced’ under Time & Date, then enter the minute, hour, day, month and weekday you want to task to run, then click ‘Add’

The scheduled task above runs at midnight every day.

Mac OS X Theme for Ubuntu 10.10

2011-12-16T02:59:00.000-08:00

To get the mac appearance on Ubuntu 10.10, you need to download and install the macbuntu-10.10(complete package for transforming the default look of gnome desktop into mac like look and appearance) theme.it is free and will take a couple of minutes.Just follow the steps -

step #1 : Download the Macbuntu-10.10 theme package(Link is given below)
Download Macbuntu-10.10 theme

step #2 : Install the Macbuntu Theme

First,Extract the theme and move on to that directory.Then open terminal ( hit CTRL+ALT+T ) and execute the ‘install.sh’ script(as a normal user i.e without sudo),that you get within the theme package(After Extraction).Just drag the install.sh,and drop it to terminal,then hit enter.

radmin@radmin-desktop:~$ '/home/radmin/Macbuntu-10.10/install.sh'

Then you will have to answer some simple questions during installation ,if you are not sure then select the default(hit Enter or answer y in y/n case).That’s All..you have installed the mac os x theme on Ubuntu 10.10.You may want to restart the system for optimal performance.(although it is not strictly required)

Google Chrome 11 for Ubuntu 10.10-11.04

2011-12-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

Google Chrome 11 – stable/final version is out!, you can download and install it on your Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) or Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), in a couple clicks. Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browser on this planet. Google chrome is fast, it’s simple and easy to use, with minimal designed graphical user interface.

You will notice a lot of changes and features in the new version of Google Chrome, but the most notable feature is ” speech input through HTML” (Voice to text conversion along with Speech Recognition capabilities). Now, the gaming/animation experience has improved due to the Accelerated 3D effects in CSS (Cascading Style Sheet), If you haven’t installed the Google Chrome yet, then you must try it, just download the correct package (for Ubuntu, debian package (*.deb) is recommended) and open it with Ubuntu Software Center to install it.

Installing Google Chrome 11 on Ubuntu 10.10/10.04/11.04

#1 : Download Google Chrome vs 11 stable/final from it’s official website.

Download Google Chrome 11

#2 : Then install it either by opening with Ubuntu Software Center (Right Click -> Open with USC ) Or use dpkg to install the package. To install the package from command line – type the following command(s) at the terminal (followed by your user login password).

sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb

#3 : Relax and wait for the installation procedure to complete. Then access it from the main menu either by searching (in later version 11.04) or direct selection (older version like 10.04 or 10.10 ). Have Fun surfing with Google Chrome!

Upgrade Google Chrome to 11 on Ubuntu

Upgrading Google Chrome on Ubuntu is very simple almost similar to installation. In the above procedure; If you have already installed the previous version of Google Chrome (e.g 10 ), then instead of install button, there will be an upgrade button , just click on that – everything else is self explanatory. You can also upgrade chrome from Update Manager. Start update manager and click on update button. You might have to restart the computer after the completion (because it may update some system packages along with the apps packages).

source : sudobits

Best Linux distribution for an old Computer

2011-12-16T00:53:00.000-08:00

Puppy Linux – The Best Linux distro for old computer

Puppy Linux is one of the most popular light weight Linux distro, known for its speed, efficiency and ease of use. Puppy Linux is well suitable for old hardware. Its size is very small – so it can be booted from RAM (then you can remove the boot media if you want) i.e you can use your computer even its hard disk is not working (also used as rescue disk). Some common media which can be used for Puppy Linux are - Live USB, Live CD/DVD, Hard drive, SD etc. So you can easily carry your Puppy Linux along with your data in pen drive. It is fun!

Features of Puppy Linux at a glance

Easy to use
Live booting
Fast
Carry anywhere
Small Size (~100 MB)
Efficient use of computing resources
it’s Fun!

Get Puppy Linux (Latest version is 5.3, released on Oct 24, 2011)

Download Puppy Linux

source : sudobits

Basic Samba Setup On Ubuntu 10.04

2011-11-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

First, you’ll need to install Samba. Fire up a Terminal window and use this command:

sudo apt-get install samba
Follow the default prompts to install Samba. Now, Samba uses a separate set of passwords than the standard Linux system accounts (stored in /etc/samba/smbpasswd), so you’ll need to create a Samba password for yourself with this command:

sudo smbpasswd -a USERNAME
(USERNAME, of course, is your actual username.)
Type a suitably strong password (make sure it includes uppercase, lowercase, punctuation, and numbers). Once your password is created, the next step is to edit your /etc/samba/smb.conf file, the configuration file for Samba. Begin by creating a folder named ‘rtest’ on your home folder; we’ll use that for our test shared folder (you can create other shared folders using the same method):

mkdir /home/USERNAME/rtest
Next, make a safe backup copy of the original smb.conf file to your home folder, in case you make an error:

sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf ~
Now use your text editor of choice to edit smb.conf:

sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

(New users will probably find gedit the easiest to use due to its GUI; but you can use emacs or vi just as readily, especially if you’re using the server version of Ubuntu, which doesn’t include X11 by default.)
Once smb.conf has loaded, add this to the very end of the file:

[rtest]
path = /home/USERNAME/rtest
available = yes
valid users = USERNAME
read only = no
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes

(There should be no spaces between the lines, and note also that there should be a single space both before and after each of the equal signs.)
These settings will share the test folder we created earlier, and give your username and your username alone permission to read and write to the folder. Once you have input the changes, save smb.conf, exit the text editor, and restart Samba with this command:

sudo restart smbd

Once Samba has restarted, use this command to check your smb.conf for any syntax errors:

sudo testparm
If you pass the testparm command, Samba should be working; try accessing the shared folder from another computer on your LAN.

source : Jm

MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows 7

2011-11-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

Describe • the versions of Windows 7
• Discuss the new features in Windows 7
• Understand the Windows 7 user interface
• Define the hardware requirements and understand the hardware support of Windows 7
• Describe the application support built in to Windows 7
• Identify essential connectivity applications used in Windows 7
• Understand the networking models supported by different versions of Windows 7

Download

Mount/Unmount .iso Images in Ubuntu 10.04

2011-11-19T03:33:00.000-08:00

Install gmountiso in Ubuntu

sudo aptitude install gmountiso

This will complete the installation.

Using gmountiso

Open go to Applications--->System Tools--->Gmount-iso

Once it opens you should see the following screen here you can specify your .iso file and mount point where you want to mount.

Windows 8 Developer Preview downloads

2011-11-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

http://msdn.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Windows Group Policy Guide

2011-11-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

Download

Backup and Restore - Windows 7

2011-11-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 features - Backup and Restore

Learn how

· Back up your files

· Back up and restore: frequently asked questions

· Video: Backing up and restoring your computer

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Best Practices

2011-11-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

Download Link

Set Up Huawei Data Cards On Ubuntu

2011-10-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

How-To Use Data Card On Ubuntu

1. Plug-in Your Huawei dat card on usb port

2. First of all Navigate to System> Preferences>Network Connection. you can see following window just go-to Mobile Broadband Tab.

3. Now Click on Add and you can see below screen having an option Huawei Technology HWAWEI Mobile (if you are not getting option make sure you have correctly plugged your data card) then click on Forward

4 .Now it will ask you to choose your Country From list select it and go ahead.

5. Now It will ask you to select your service provider from list select it and go ahead (if you want to create manual settings then select other)and provide the details

6. Now Confirm Setting and click on Apply

7. And finally make your profile settings and click on connect & Apply

8.You are done Enjoy !

Disable Adobe automatic Updater check for updates

2011-09-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

Turn off automatic updates on Windows OS

If your computer is connected to the internet, then you can change the Adobe Updater preferences to not check for updates.
To Change the Adobe Updater preferences, do the following:

Start the AdobeUpdater.exe application from ...\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Updater 5
When the update screen appears, click the Preferences button
Uncheck the Automatically Check for updates checkbox and click OK

If your computer does not have an internet connection, then you can manually edit the AdobeUpdaterPreferences.dat file.
To manually edit the AdobeUpdaterPreferences.dat file, do the following:

Start the AdobeUpdater.exe application from ...\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Updater 5
When the Adobe Updater dialog appears stating that there is no Internet connection, click Cancel
Navigate to ...\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Updater5 on Windows XP or ...\[username]\AppData\Local\Adobe\Updater5 on Vista and open AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat in Notepad.
If the 1 tag already exists, then change the value from 1 to 0. Otherwise, add the line 0 anywhere between the tags.
Close and save the AdobeUpdaterPrefs.dat file.

How do I find my operating system (OS) version on a Mac?

2011-09-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Follow these easy steps to determine which version of the operating system is installed on your Mac.

Open the Apple Menu from the upper-left corner
Select "About this Mac"

You need Version 10.5.3 or greater.

Install Firefox 5 in Ubuntu 10.10/10.04 via PPA

2011-08-03T04:27:00.000-07:00

If you’re still on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick or 10.04 Lucid and want to try Firefox 5, then this tutorial will show you how. Firefox version 5 is now available in Ubuntu 11.04, but for 10.10 and 10.04 users, you must download and install it or easily install it via PPA.

Getting started:

To get started, press Ctrl – Alt – T on your keyboard to open Terminal. Then type the commands below to add the Mozilla’s PPA.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stab

Next, type the command below to update your system.

$ sudo apt-get update

Finally, type the command below to upgrade your system along with Firefox

$ sudo apt-get upgrade

That’s it!

Add Home, Network, Computer and Trash to the Desktop in Ubuntu

2011-07-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

To add those icons to the desktop in Ubuntu, press Alt-F2 on your keyboard, then type and select the command below:

gconf-editor

Next, scroll down to Apps –> Nautilus –> Desktop and put a check into the boxes shown below to display on the desktop.

apps --> nautilus --> desktop

This is how it will look

Install/uninstall .deb files

2011-07-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

These files are Debian packages. The package files associated with Ubuntu have the .deb suffix because of Ubuntu's close relations with the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. You will need administrative privileges to install a .deb file

To install a .deb file, simply double click on it, and then select Install Package
Alternatively, you can also install a .deb file by opening a terminal and typing:
sudo dpkg -i package_file.deb
To uninstall a .deb file, deselect it in your package manager, or type:
sudo dpkg -r package_name

How to remove hidden network adapter

2011-06-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

When you trying to set the IP address on a network adapter, you may receive the following error message:

Cause
——
A network adapter with the same IP address is in the registry but is hidden in Device Manager. This can occur when you move a network card from one PCI slot to another PCI slot.

To resolve this problem, uninstall the ghosted network adapter from the registry using one of the following methods:

Method 1

Click Start, click Run, type cmd.exe, and then press ENTER.
Type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1, and then press ENTER.
Type Start DEVMGMT.MSC, and then press ENTER.
Click View, and then click Show Hidden Devices.
Expand the Network Adapters tree.
Right-click the dimmed network adapter, and then click Uninstall.

Method 2

The DevCon utility is a command-line utility that acts as an alternative to Device Manager. When you use DevCon, you can enable, disable, restart, update, remove, and query individual devices or groups of devices. To use DevCon, follow these steps:

Download the DevCon tool by clicking the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
311272 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/ ) The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager
Unpack the 32-bit or 64-bit DevCon tool binary to a local folder.
Click Start, click Run, then type cmd and press ENTER.
Type CD:\path_to_binaries to navigate to the devcon.exe is located.
Use the following syntax to find installed network adapters:
devcon findall =net or
devcon listclass net
Note In the output of the previous commands, there is a line for the ghosted network adapter that is similar to the following:
PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_00D81028&REV_78\4&19FD8D60&0&58F0: 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Remove the ghosted device by typing the following syntax:
devcon -r remove "@PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_00D81028&REV_78\4&19FD8D60&0&58F0"

Howto Find Maximum memory capacity of Your pc

2011-06-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

Before Upgrading your Computers Memory capacity, You have to check maximum memory capacity of your system supports.

How to check your maximum memory capacity

$ sudo dmidecode | grep Maximum

output
   Maximum Size: 8192 KB
               Maximum Size: 128 KB
   Maximum Capacity: 16 GB

How to fix MBR in Windows 7

2011-06-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

1. Start PC, Insert Windows 7 DVD and hit a key when asked to. You may have to change your boot order to boot from DVD!
2. Click on “Repair your computer“:

The installer will now search for Windows installations on your PC and list them all.
3.Select your Windows 7 installation and click on next.

4.Click on Command Prompt

5. Enter the following command on one line: bootrec.exe /fixmbr

/fixmbr
This will create a new Master Boot Record, but will not overwrite your exisiting partition table.
/fixboot
This will add a new boot sector. If you boot sector is damaged you might not be able to start your system.
/rebuildbcd
Scans your disk for Windows-7 compatible installations, needed to repair your Windows 7 installa

Editing Hosts File in Windows 7

2011-06-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

1. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories, right click on Notepad and select Open as Administrator.

2. Now you’ll have a notepad that is running as an administrator. Go to File > Open, browse to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Select All Files from the drop down just above the Open button and then open the Hosts file for editing.

Now just save the Hosts file after you are done,

This trick also applies to other files as well. If you can’t save a file after editing in Windows 7 or Vista, just edit it as an administrator.

Installing PHP5 and Apache on Ubuntu

2011-06-08T04:39:00.000-07:00

If you are doing any kind of PHP development, you’ll almost always be using Apache along with it. Here’s the quick and easy way to get PHP up and running on your Ubuntu box.

From a command shell, you will run the following commands:

sudo apt-get install apache2
sudo apt-get install php5
sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Note that if apache is already installed you can omit the first line. Your web files will now be found in /var/www/

How to start, stop and restart Apache in Ubuntu

2011-06-08T04:34:00.000-07:00

There are times when you will be forced to start, stop or restart your Apache web server, be it on your VPS or on your localhost. And like every other linux distribution, Ubuntu also comes with a shell script that lets you to do this.

All you need to do is to login as a root or make use of sudo. Open the terminal or login to your VPS and perform these commands:

To start apache web server:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 start

To stop apache web server:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop

To restart apache web server:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Restrict Users to Print Over HTTP Internet Printers

2011-06-04T03:23:00.000-07:00

By default every user in Windows is allowed to print documents over HTTP protocol to Internet Printers remotely. This is a very effective and useful feature of Windows. With the use of this feature, a user does not have to leave his desk in order to take printouts.

Although this task can also be accomplished by using Network Printing but each and every method has its own advantage and disadvantage. So their can be situations when a user will need to be restricted to issue print commands for Internet printers over HTTP protocol.

In this tutorial we will learn how to do that – For the purpose of this tutorial we will need to use Group Policy.

Open Group Policies by running GPEDIT.MSC command from the run dialogue box of windows.
In the Group Policy Console follow this path – Local Computer Policy – Computer configuration – Administrative Templates – System – Internet Communication – Internet Communication Settings
In the right pane Open “Turn Off Printing Over HTTP” setting and enable it.

Now with this configuration the Internet Printing feature has been disabled in your client operating system. Note – you will have to implement this setting in all the clients in your network to disable Internet Printing on all of them or on other hand you can also use Active Directory for centralized group policy management.

Step-by-step to Install HP Printer Driver onto Ubuntu 10.10

2011-03-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

1. Download the Automatic Installer (.run file) Universal HP Printer Driver for Linux - hplip-3.11.1
2. Running the printer driver by running these commands in the shell, then press enter:
user@host:~$ cd Desktop
user@host:~/Desktop$ sh hplip-3.11.1.run
3. Select the Automatic install mode
4. Verify your Linux Distribution - Ubuntu 10.10
5. Enter 'y' to enable support for parallel connected printers.
6. Enter Your root/Superuser User Password
7. Continues, the driver installer will now detect what dependencies your system will need to install before installing HPLIP.
Please note: Any package manager clean up steps will be ran. These are executed to try and minimize any potential package manager problems.
8. Download and Install Any Missing Dependencies
9. './configure' prepares HPLIP for install as well as your system is verified to have all the required dependencies for HPLIP;
'make' is then executed. Make compiles ("builds") HPLIP for your system
'make install' is the actual install procedure, this step is where HPLIP is actually being installed to your system.
10. Using 'hp-setup' to configure your printer

1. Select the printer connection type, USB, Network/Ethernet/Wireless or others
2. Select the HP printer from discovered printer products
3. Select the appropriate PPD file (driver) for your printer.

11. The rest is easy, just follow to complete the printer setup process.

How to Import, Export, Archive or Backup mailbox data

2011-03-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

How To Export Data In Outlook

To export data from Outlook, follow the instructions here for the appropriate version of Outlook.

Outlook 2010

On the File tab on the Ribbon, click Open, then click Import.
Click Export to a file, then click Next.
Select Personal Folder File (.pst), then click Next.
Select the folder you want to export, then click Next.
Choose the filename you want to use for the data to be exported.
Click Finish.

Outlook 2011 for Mac

In Outlook, choose File > Export. Alternatively, on the Tools tab on the Ribbon, choose Export.
In the new window, choose Outlook for Mac Data File (.olm).
Select Items of the following types, and check the boxes for the types of data you want to export (Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes).
Click the right arrow to continue.
Choose whether to delete the exported items or to leave them in the mailbox.
Click the right arrow.
Specify the location and the name of the file and click Save.
After Outlook finishes exporting, click Done.

Outlook 2002/2003/2007

On the File menu, click Import and Export.
(If the menu item is not available, hover your pointer over the down arrows at the bottom of the menu, then click Import and Export.)
Click Export to a file, then click Next.
Select Personal Folder File (.pst), then click Next.
Select the folder you want to export, then click Next.
Choose the filename you want to use for the data to be exported.
Click Finish.

Outlook 2000

On the File menu, click Import and Export.
(If the menu item is not available, hover your pointer over the down arrows at the bottom of the menu and then click Import and Export.)
Click Export to a file, then click Next.
Select Personal Folder file (.pst), then click Next.
Select the folder you want to export, then click Next.
In Save exported file as, type the name of the file to use for the exported data.
Click Finish.

Enable Shared Folders Application On Ubuntu

2011-03-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

Linux Sharing files and folders across your network from your Ubuntu PC is every bit as easy as sharing files in Windows. Shared Folder is an Application which help you in sharing any folder on a network.

You can share any folders using the Shared Folders Application by Follow these easy steps:

1. Go to Applications ▸ Accessories ▸ Terminal to open a Terminal.
2. Type shares-admin and press Enter to open Shared Folders.
3. You may receive a message which says Sharing services are not installed. If this happens, ensure that the two check
boxes in the message box are checked and press Install services. Sharing service support will then be
downloaded and installed.
4. Click on Lock button and enter your password in the Password field.
5. Press the Authenticate button.
6. Select the Shared Folders tab and press Add.
7. Select the location of the folder you wish to share by changing the Path option.
8. Choose Windows networks (SMB) from the Share through option.
9. Enter a name and comment for the shared folder.
10. If you would like people accessing the shared folder to be able to add, change and remove
files in the folder, uncheck Read only. If you leave Read only checked, people will only be able to
view files in the folder.
11. Press Share to make the shared folder available. Other people on the same network (LAN) as you should
now be able to access the folder.

Set up root password for Ubuntu

2011-03-08T22:16:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu has no password for root user as default. If you want to reset root password, you need to use sudo passwd command in shell. To Open shell, click Applications » Accessories » Terminal. In shell, type sudo passwd. It will ask you password. Type your login password.

rkm@rkm-desktop:~$ sudo passwd

And then it will ask you to reset password for root. Type it twice

Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:

After reset root password. It will show this message in Shell.

passwd: password updated successfully

Now you can login as root by typing su command

rkm@rkm-desktop:~$ su
Password:
root@rkm-desktop:/home/rkm#

Ubuntu: List Running Services from a Terminal

2011-03-03T23:52:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu Linux is an alternate complete desktop operating system for Windows operating system. If you are using Ubuntu operating system or any other Linux distribution similar to ubuntu we hope this post will be useful.

We like to share about services and how to stop and start the services in Ubuntu OS. First Open a terminal to find out the list services running in background of your Ubuntu OS and fetch the unwanted services running in your OS and stop the services which will improve the performance of your computer.

Note : To perform these tasks you should be logged in with root login to get full privilege.

Command to list of services running in the background

root@rkmvp:/# service --status-all

Install or uninstall fonts

2011-02-20T00:08:00.000-08:00

To install a font

Open Fonts by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Fonts.
Click File, and then click Install New Font.

If you don’t see the File menu, press ALT.
In the Add Fonts dialog box, under Drives, click the drive where the font that you want to install is located.
Under Folders, double-click the folder containing the fonts that you want to add.
Under List of fonts, click the font that you want to add, and then click Install.

To uninstall a font

Open Fonts by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Fonts.
Click the font that you want to uninstall. To select more than one font at a time, press and hold down CTRL while you click each font.
On the File menu, click Delete.

If you don’t see the File menu, press ALT.

How to find out Your Ubuntu / Debian is 32 bit or 64 bit

2011-02-08T04:02:00.000-08:00

Some times you need to know , Your Ubuntu / Debian is 32 bit or 64 bit,

You can use the following command

open a terminal and type

$ uname -m

You will get an output like i686 or x86_64

i686 means it is 32 Bit
x86_64 means it is 64 bit

Howto Enable and Disable ROOT Account in Ubuntu

2011-02-08T03:54:00.001-08:00

Enabling the root account in ubuntu is rarely necessary. Almost everything you need to do as root of an Ubuntu system can be done via sudo or gksudo. If you really need a persistent root login, the best alternative is to simulate a root login shell using the following command...

$sudo -i ( same as sudo su)

To enable the root account

$ sudo passwd root

To Disable the root account

$sudo usermod -p '!' root

How to check Ubuntu server Linux version

2011-02-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

If you are a Windows user before, there is no ver command in Linux that can be used to check the version of Ubuntu server. In Linux or Ubuntu server specifically, there are many commands that can be used to check operating system version.

The first command that can be used to check Ubuntu server version is, as Ubuntu suggest, the lsb_release -a command. Here is the example:

rkm@NCP-l2:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 8.10
Release: 8.10
Codename: intrepid
rkm@NCP-l2:~$

Second command that we can use to check Linux version is cat /proc/version. See example below:

rkm@NCP-l2:~$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.27-7-generic (buildd@rothera) (gcc version 4.3.2 (Ubuntu 4.3.2-1ubuntu10) ) #1 SMP Fri Oct 24 06:42:44 UTC 2008

We can also view all information about Ubuntu server using uname -a option:

rkm@NCP-l2:~$ uname -a
Linux NCP-l2 2.6.27-7-generic #1 SMP Fri Oct 24 06:42:44 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

BOOTMGR is missing in Windows 7

2011-01-13T02:32:00.000-08:00

Do the following to resolve BOOTMGR is missing in Windows 7

1. Take Windows 7 DVD or Windows 7 USB and boot your computer with it. Press a key when you are prompted to boot PC with Windows 7 DVD or USB
2. When Windows 7 completes loading Setup Files. It will ask you to select the language, time and currency. Select it and Click Next
3. On the next screen, you will see Install Now. But, below you will see “Repair your computer”. Select that.
4. Now Windows 7 will try to check for the problems in Windows 7, before that it will search for Windows 7 Installation Drive
5. After few seconds or minutes, it will show the problems and you should see the Problem related to Boot
6. It will repair the Boot Record by placing the BOOTMGR properly.

Follow the above steps, i am sure you will be able to resolve the BOOTMGR is missing issue.

Easily Fix USB Device Not Recognized on Windows 7 and XP

2011-01-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

Most of us connecting our devices Mouse,Keyboard,Camera,Mobile,Pen drive using USB ports.When we insert USB drives into the USB port Windows shows up a message that USB is not recognized by Windows XP or Windows 7 because its Malfunctioned. Even after reinstalling the USB drivers,System restoring the “USB Device Not Recognized” issue never Stops.

How to Solve Fix USB Device Not Recognized issue ?
We can try to solve this problem in many ways.

Step 1 : USB never works if our motherboard fails to load it. Power off the machine, disconnect the USB, pull the battery (in case of laptop) or remove the power connection to PC (in case of desktop). Try to connect after 10-20 minutes.The small microprocessor on the motherboard will reload the drivers and your USB ports.
Step 2 : Goto Device Manager in your PC or Laptop. Select any one of the USB Port.Select properties from the right click menu and select the Power Management tab. Click to clear the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” check box, and then click OK. Now Scan device Manager for Hardware Changes.It may solve the issue.
Step 3 : Clean the USB Port Wires inside Motherboard if there is any Dusts that causes the issue
Hope using the above steps we can solve the ” USB Device Not Recognized” Windows Error.

List of all Windows OS Version Numbers

2011-01-11T22:38:00.000-08:00

Operating System	Version Number
Windows 1.0	1.04
Windows 2.0	2.11
Windows 3.0	3
Windows NT 3.1	3.10.528
Windows for Workgroups 3.11	3.11
Windows NT Workstation 3.5	3.5.807
Windows NT Workstation 3.51	3.51.1057
Windows 95	4.0.950
Windows NT Workstation 4.0	4.0.1381
Windows 98	4.1.1998
Windows 98 Second Edition	4.1.2222
Windows Me	4.90.3000
Windows 2000 Professional	5.0.2195
Windows XP	5.1.2600
Windows Vista	6.0.6000
Windows 7	6.1.7600

How to create a Partition in Windows 7

2011-01-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

Creating partition in Windows XP is not really convenient because you need to use third party software. Microsoft learned from Windows users feedback that having a built in partition tool is essential and they had implemented this feature on Windows Vista. Like its predecessor, Windows 7 has its own built-in tool to allow users to create a drive partition.

The partition process is pretty easy but for some people who are not familiar with PC, they might feel the pain in their neck. Here's the step by step on how to do that.

1. Right click on My Computer and select "Manage"
2. "Computer Management" window will popup. Select storage > disk management from the left pane.
3.Select the drive you want to perform partition. In this tutorial, I choose drive D.
4. Right click on the drive you intend to perform partition and select "Shrink volume..."
5. A window will popup showing you the size of hard drive and the total amount space available for shrinking.
6. If you refer to the following screenshot you will notice, the light green section is the amount your specified for creating new partition. (Note: don't worry about small discrepancy between the amount specified in the previous step and the one you see here)

7. Right click on the green section and select "New Simple Volume...".
8. At this stage, you just need to follow through the wizard. It asks you few more information regarding your new partition. Everything is pretty much done, so you don't have to key in any value. Just click the next button on every screen (refer the 3 consecutive screenshots below).
9. Click finish and you are done!

Default password list in the system/Application

2010-12-26T23:33:00.000-08:00

Why? because most system administrator forget to change their default password in the system
. So basically during the first assessment or audit, just go through using this default password to enter the system. What you need is to search this following site to get default password update.

Password Generic System
This following resources provide information about detail password in many type of system

http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html
http://www.cirt.net/passwords
http://www.dopeman.org/default_passwords.html
http://www.redoracle.com/index.php?option=com_password&task=rlist
http://www.virus.org/default-password/

2. Network Devices Specific (Router, Firewall, IPS System)
http://www.routerpasswords.com/
http://www.governmentsecurity.org/

3. System Specific
Oracle Specific
http://www.petefinnigan.com/default/default_password_list.htm

SAP Specific
http://www.petefinnigan.com/default/sap_default_users.htm

Cisco Specific
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040407-username.shtml

Linux: Check log, user login, system reboot

2010-12-10T02:32:00.001-08:00

To display messages from the log
$ cat /var/log/messages | more

To show users who are logged in to the system
$ who

To show the list of users who have logged in last
$ last

To show the list of all reboots
$ last reboot

To print the content of the last login log from /var/log/lastlog
$ lastlog

Linux Shutdown Command and Logfile

2010-12-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

In the enterprise Linux network, it is necessary to keep track of server shutdown and reboot time. Most of you may have used the shutdown / reboot command.

Show listing of last reboot / shutdown date and time

last command searches back through the file /var/log/wtmp (or the file designated by the -f flag) and displays a list of all users logged in (and out) since that file was created. The pseudo user reboot logs in each time the system is rebooted. Thus last reboot will show a log of all reboots since the log file was created.

Shutdown (halt) system immediately

Type the command as follows:
# shutdown -h 0

However on production server above command is dangerous as it won't allow users to save files/work/data. It is better to give users a warning and then take down the box:
# shutdown +5 "*** Server is going DOWN for hard disk replacement!!! Please save all your work ***"

Schedules shutdown command

You can also schedules shutdown with shutdown command

# shutdown 1:00 SERVER DOWN"
# shutdown 18:00 SERVER DOWN"

First one will shutdown server at 1:00 AM and second will be at 6:00 PM (it uses 24 hrs clock format)

How do I find out serve shutdown / reboot time?

Now most exciting part, how will you find out when system was last rebooted or halted (shutdown). Often new UNIX/Linux admin don't find out solution easily. When ever you issue shutdown/reboot command a entry created in /var/log/wtmp file, don't open or modify this binary data file. You can read this log file with the help of last command.

Display list of last reboot entires

Use last command as follows:
last reboot | less

Display list of last shutdown entires (includes run level changes):

Type the command as follows:
last -x| less

Or even better try:
# last -x | grep shutdown |less

Note file /var/log/wtmp is log file which stores previous login sessions and use last command to access information. Same commends works on FreeBSD and other UNIX like oses.

Linux Find Out My IP Number ( IP Address )

2010-12-08T00:31:00.000-08:00

How do I find out ip number (IP Address) of my Linux server using command line options?

You can use any one of the following command to find out your IP address, routing table, devices, tunnels, and much more.

[a] ip command : Display or configure ip network information.

[b] ifconfig command : Display or configure ip network information.

ip Command Example

To display ip address, enter:

$ ip addr show

Sample outputs:

1: lo:  mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
  link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
  inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
  inet6 ::1/128 scope host
     valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN qlen 1000
  link/ether b8:ac:6f:65:31:e5 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
  link/ether 00:21:6a:bf:2d:64 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
  inet 192.168.1.100/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global wlan0
  inet6 fe80::221:6aff:febf:2d64/64 scope link
     valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

To see eth0 or wlan0 interface ip info, enter:
$ ip addr show eth0
OR
$ ip addr show wlan0
To see current routing table, enter:
$ ip route show
Sample outputs:

10.0.31.18 dev ppp0 proto kernel scope link src 10.1.3.180 38.96.196.94 via 192.168.1.2 dev wlan0 src 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.100 metric 2 192.168.122.0/24 dev virbr0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.122.1 169.254.0.0/16 dev wlan0 scope link metric 1000 10.0.0.0/8 dev ppp0 scope link default via 192.168.1.2 dev wlan0 proto static

To see your dns address, enter:
$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
Sample outputs:

domain nixcraft.net.in search nixcraft.net.in nameserver 127.0.0.1 nameserver 192.168.1.2 nameserver 10.1.2.30

To see network stats, enter:
$ netstat -i
Sample outputs:

Iface MTU Met RX-OK RX-ERR RX-DRP RX-OVR TX-OK TX-ERR TX-DRP TX-OVR Flg eth0 1500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BMU lo 16436 0 34 0 0 0 34 0 0 0 LRU ppp0 1496 0 1734 0 0 0 2348 0 0 0 MOPRU virbr0 1500 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 BMRU wlan0 1500 0 2663556 0 0 0 2393688 0 0 0 BMRU

To see detailed stats, enter:
$ netstat -s

Ip:
  2665087 total packets received
  0 forwarded
  0 incoming packets discarded
  2664956 incoming packets delivered
  2395808 requests sent out
  5 dropped because of missing route
  189 reassemblies required
  91 packets reassembled ok
Icmp:
  84 ICMP messages received
  28 input ICMP message failed.
  ICMP input histogram:
      destination unreachable: 22
      timeout in transit: 60
      echo replies: 2
  375 ICMP messages sent
  0 ICMP messages failed
  ICMP output histogram:
      destination unreachable: 371
      echo request: 4
IcmpMsg:
      InType0: 2
      InType3: 22
      InType11: 60
      OutType3: 371
      OutType8: 4
Tcp:
  20610 active connections openings
  31585 passive connection openings
  8024 failed connection attempts
  1251 connection resets received
  5 connections established
  2581197 segments received
  2297196 segments send out
  63443 segments retransmited
  14 bad segments received.
  30535 resets sent
Udp:
  80731 packets received
  351 packets to unknown port received.
  1 packet receive errors
  31985 packets sent
UdpLite:
TcpExt:
  15213 invalid SYN cookies received
  159 resets received for embryonic SYN_RECV sockets
  622 packets pruned from receive queue because of socket buffer overrun
  7 packets dropped from out-of-order queue because of socket buffer overrun
  10 ICMP packets dropped because they were out-of-window
  15991 TCP sockets finished time wait in fast timer
  69 packets rejects in established connections because of timestamp
  31774 delayed acks sent
  7 delayed acks further delayed because of locked socket
  Quick ack mode was activated 55974 times
  3 packets directly queued to recvmsg prequeue.
  3 bytes directly received in process context from prequeue
  1172856 packet headers predicted
  152280 acknowledgments not containing data payload received
  19065 predicted acknowledgments
  847 times recovered from packet loss by selective acknowledgements
  Detected reordering 2 times using SACK
  Detected reordering 2 times using time stamp
  1 congestion windows fully recovered without slow start
  3 congestion windows partially recovered using Hoe heuristic
  420 congestion windows recovered without slow start by DSACK
  3090 congestion windows recovered without slow start after partial ack
  1097 TCP data loss events
  TCPLostRetransmit: 54
  1 timeouts after reno fast retransmit
  1302 timeouts after SACK recovery
  416 timeouts in loss state
  1264 fast retransmits
  28 forward retransmits
  2097 retransmits in slow start
  29729 other TCP timeouts
  217 SACK retransmits failed
  7416 packets collapsed in receive queue due to low socket buffer
  85705 DSACKs sent for old packets
  8290 DSACKs sent for out of order packets
  2556 DSACKs received
  17 DSACKs for out of order packets received
  9960 connections reset due to unexpected data
  328 connections reset due to early user close
  8346 connections aborted due to timeout
  TCPDSACKIgnoredOld: 1498
  TCPDSACKIgnoredNoUndo: 412
  TCPSpuriousRTOs: 27
  TCPSackShiftFallback: 5906
IpExt:
  InNoRoutes: 1
  InOctets: 1851631423
  OutOctets: 225338929

To see TCP / UDP network and socket information, use the ss command as follows:
# ss -s # ss -l # ss -t -a # ss -u -a

ifconfig Command Example

Simply type the following command:
# ifconfig
OR
# ifconfig eth0 # ifconfig wlan0
Sample outputs:

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:21:6a:bf:2d:64
        inet addr:192.168.1.100  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
        inet6 addr: fe80::221:6aff:febf:2d64/64 Scope:Link
        UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
        RX packets:2664664 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
        TX packets:2394780 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
        collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
        RX bytes:1888550078 (1.8 GB)  TX bytes:301911646 (301.9 MB)

Kill Process In Ubuntu Linux

2010-12-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

How can I kill a process using the bash command prompt? Do I always need to kill the process using PID?

To kill processes by name use the killall command. The syntax is as follows:

killall -SIGNAME process-name

The default signal for kill is TERM (terminate process). To list available signals, enter:
$ kill -l
The following are useful signals and used frequently by sys admins and Ubuntu users:

SIGHUP (1) - Hangup detected on controlling terminal or death of controlling process.
SIGINT (2) - Interrupt from keyboard.
SIGKILL (9) - Kill signal i.e. kill running process.
SIGSTOP (19) - Stop process.
SIGCONT (18) - Continue process if stopped.

Examples - Ubuntu Linux: Killing Process

To kill all apache2 process, enter:
$ sudo killall -9 apache2
To kill all firefox process, enter:
$ sudo killall -9 firefox-bin
You can also use the pkill command as follows to kill all php-cgi process, enter:
$ pkill -KILL php-cgi
The -u option will kill only processes whose effective user ID is set to vivek:
$ sudo pkill -KILL -u vivek php-cgi

Change your Network Card MAC Address on Ubuntu

2010-11-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of reasons you might want to manually set your MAC address for your network card. I won’t ask you what your reason is.

To change this setting, we’ll need to edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. You can choose to use a different editor if you’d like.

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

You should see the line for your network interface, which is usually eth0. If you have dhcp enabled, it will look like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Just add another line below it to make it look something like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
hwaddress ether 01:02:03:04:05:06

Obviously you would want to choose something else for the MAC address, but it needs to be in the same format.

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

You will need to restart networking or reboot to take effect.

How to flush DNS cache on Ubuntu

2010-10-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Some distributions run a caching nameserver in the background out of the box while some do not. To clear the cache if you have such a daemon running, simply restart the nscd service in ubuntu.

Most DNS clients will cache the results of name resolution request to speed up multiple lookups to the same URL. Just think about how many requests are made to the same domain when visiting a single web page. Every file, image, style sheet, etc. that is on that page and served from the same domain requires a DNS lookup.

So if you have an invalid DNS entry cached on your local client you’ll need to flush it out of the cache so your client can do a new lookup and get the correct information. Or your other option is to wait until that DNS entry expires and the cache flushes it automatically… which typically takes about 24 hours.

In ubuntu if you want to flush DNS cache you need to restart nscd daemon

Install nscd using the following command

sudo aptitude install nscd

Flush DNS Cache in Ubuntu Using the following command

sudo /etc/init.d/nscd restart

DBX File Size Limit Problem

2010-10-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

Outlook Express (which came with Windows XP and below) is an email client provided by Microsoft for Windows users. The Windows it self is sometime give you a headache, and OE can give you another problem.

OE has a maximum 2 GB of .DBX files. DBX files is a file of OE for each folder in OE, as shown on the picture. When DBX file size reaches 2 GB, OE may not receive emails. It will say that there is an unknown error, as usual

To solve the problem is easy.

Change the name of the file: Inbox.DBX to Inbox 2.DBX
Run send/receive command
OE will receive new emails and create a new Inbox.DBX automatically
Done

Now there are two INBOX folders: Inbox.DBX and Inbox 2.DBX. New emails will go to Inbox.DBX by default.

To avoid this problem in the future, you can setup mail rules (filter) to separate emails by sender. Or you can manually move old emails to new folder manually.

10 things you should know about IPv6 addressing

2010-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

1: IPv6 addresses are 128-bit hexadecimal numbers

The IPv4 addresses we are all used to seeing are made up of four numerical octets that combine to form a 32-bit address. IPv6 addresses look nothing like IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses are 128 bits in length and are made up of hexadecimal characters.

In IPv4, each octet consists of a decimal number ranging from 0 to 255. These numbers are typically separated by periods. In IPv6, addresses are expressed as a series of eight 4-character hexadecimal numbers, which represent 16 bits each (for a total of 128 bits). As we’ll see in a minute, IPv6 addresses can sometimes be abbreviated in a way that allows them to be expressed with fewer characters.

2: Link local unicast addresses are easy to identify

IPv6 reserves certain headers for different types of addresses. Probably the best known example of this is that link local unicast addresses always begin with FE80. Similarly, multicast addresses always begin with FF0x, where the x is a placeholder representing a number from 1 to 8.

3: Leading zeros are suppressed

Because of their long bit lengths, IPv6 addresses tend to contain a lot of zeros. When a section of an address starts with one or more zeros, those zeros are nothing more than placeholders. So any leading zeros can be suppressed. To get a better idea of what I mean, look at this address:

[FE80:CD00:0000:0CDE:1257:0000:211E:729C]

If this were a real address, any leading zero within a section could be suppressed. The result would look like this:

[FE80:CD00:0:CDE:1257:0:211E:729C]

As you can see, suppressing leading zeros goes a long way toward shortening the address.

4: Inline zeros can sometimes be suppressed

Real IPv6 addresses tend to contain long sections of nothing but zeros, which can also be suppressed. For example, consider the address shown below:

[FE80:CD00:0000:0000:0000:0000:211E:729C]

In this address, there are four sequential sections separated by zeros. Rather than simply suppressing the leading zeros, you can get rid of all of the sequential zeros and replace them with two colons. The two colons tell the operating system that everything in between them is a zero. The address shown above then becomes:

[FE80:CD00::211E:729C]

You must remember two things about inline zero suppression. First, you can suppress a section only if it contains nothing but zeros. For example, you will notice that the second part of the address shown above still contains some trailing zeros. Those zeros were retained because there are non-zero characters in the section. Second, you can use the double colon notation only once in any given address.

5: Loopback addresses don’t even look like addresses

In IPv4, a designated address known as a loopback address points to the local machine. The loopback address for any IPv4-enabled device is 127.0.0.1.

Like IPv4, there is also a designated loopback address for IPv6:

[0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001]

Once all of the zeros have been suppressed, however, the IPv6 loopback address doesn’t even look like a valid address. The loopback address is usually expressed as [::1].

6: You don’t need a traditional subnet mask

In IPv4, every IP address comes with a corresponding subnet mask. IPv6 also uses subnets, but the subnet ID is built into the address.

In an IPv6 address, the first 48 bits are the network prefix. The next 16 bits are the subnet ID and are used for defining subnets. The last 64 bits are the interface identifier (which is also known as the Interface ID or the Device ID).

If necessary, the bits that are normally reserved for the Device ID can be used for additional subnet masking. However, this is normally not necessary, as using a 16-bit subnet and a 64-bit device ID provides for 65,535 subnets with quintillions of possible device IDs per subnet. Still, some organizations are already going beyond 16-bit subnet IDs.

7: DNS is still a valid technology

In IPv4, Host (A) records are used to map an IP address to a host name. DNS is still used in IPv6, but Host (A) records are not used by IPv6 addresses. Instead, IPv6 uses AAAA resource records, which are sometimes referred to as Quad A records. The domain ip6.arpa is used for reverse hostname resolution.

8: IPv6 can tunnel its way across IPv4 networks

One of the things that has caused IPv6 adoption to take so long is that IPv6 is not generally compatible with IPv4 networks. As a result, a number of transition technologies use tunneling to facilitate cross network compatibility. Two such technologies are Teredo and 6to4. Although these technologies work in different ways, the basic idea is that both encapsulate IPv6 packets inside IPv4 packets. That way, IPv6 traffic can flow across an IPv4 network. Keep in mind, however, that tunnel endpoints are required on both ends to encapsulate and extract the IPv6 packets.

9: You might already be using IPv6

Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft began installing and enabling IPv6 by default. Because the Windows implementation of IPv6 is self-configuring, your computers could be broadcasting IPv6 traffic without your even knowing it. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can abandon IPv4. Not all switches and routers support IPv6, just as some applications contain hard-coded references to IPv4 addresses.

10: Windows doesn’t fully support IPv6

It’s kind of ironic, but as hard as Microsoft has been pushing IPv6 adoption, Windows does not fully support IPv6 in all the ways you might expect. For example, in Windows, it is possible to include an IP address within a Universal Naming Convention (\\127.0.0.1\C$, for example). However, you can’t do this with IPv6 addresses because when Windows sees a colon, it assumes you’re referencing a drive letter.

To work around this issue, Microsoft has established a special domain for IPv6 address translation. If you want to include an IPv6 address within a Universal Naming Convention, you must replace the colons with dashes and append .ipv6.literal.net to the end of the address — for example, [FE80-AB00--200D-617B].ipv6.literal.net.

How to Enlarge a PST File Size

2010-09-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

PST stands for Personal STore, which is Microsoft Outlook's personal folders file. It contains all the mails you have moved from your Inbox to the Archived folder in Outlook. PST file sizes have absolute maximum limits depending on the version of Microsoft Outlook. Outlook 2010 has an absolute limit of 50GB, while Outlook 2003 and 2007 have an absolute limit of 20GB. This means that the PST file size cannot be expanded beyond these limits. By default, however, PST file size limits are set only to 2GB regardless of the Outlook version.

Instructions

Editing PST File Size Limit in the Registry

1. Click "Start," then "Run." (If "Run" is not present at the "Start" menu, click "All Programs," then "Accessories," then "Command Prompt.")

2. Type: regedit, then press "Enter."

3.Expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" and go to "Software," then "Policies," then "Microsoft" then "Office." Expand "11.0" if you're using Outlook 2003, "12.0" if you're using Outlook 2007 or "14.0" if you're using Outlook 2010. Then Expand "Outlook."

4.Click "PST, then double-click "MaxFileSize" on the right window pane. Enter "0x0000C800" in the "Value data" if you're using Outlook 2010. Enter "0x00005000" if you're using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007. Make sure that the "Base" is set to Hexadecimal because these are the hexadecimal equivalents of 50GB and 20GB, respectively. Click "OK."

5.Find the registry "MaxLargeFileSize" and enter the same values as in step 4 for Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2003 and 2007. Click "OK."

6.Find the "WarnFileSize" registry entry in the same window pane and double-click it. Type: 0x0000BE00 if you're using Outlook 2010 or 0x00004C00 if you're using Outlook 2003 or 2007. These hexadecimal values are equivalent to 47.5GB and 19GB, respectively, or 95 percent of the absolute maximum. Click "OK."

7.Find the "WarnLargeFileSize" and enter the same value as in step 6 for either Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2003 and 2007. Click "OK." Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Creating the PST File Size Limit in the Registry

1.Click "Start," then "Run." (If "Run" is not present at the "Start" menu, click "All Programs," then "Accessories," then "Command Prompt.")

2.Type: regedit, then press "Enter."

3.Expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" and go to "Software," then "Policies," then "Microsoft" then "Office." Expand "11.0" if you're using Outlook 2003, "12.0" if you're using Outlook 2007 or "14.0" if you're using Outlook 2010. Then Expand "Outlook."

4.Right-click on the right window pane, click "New," then click "Key." Type "PST," then hit "Enter."

5.Right-click again on the right window pane, click "New," then click "DWORD (32-bit) value."

6.Type "MaxFileSize" and hit "Enter" twice. Type: 0x0000C800 if you're using Outlook 2010 or 0x00005000 if you're using Outlook 2003 or 2007. Make sure that the "Base" is set to Hexadecimal.

7.Repeat steps 5 and 6. Type "MaxLargeFileSize" this time instead of "MaxFileSize." Use the same hexadecimal values for Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2003 and 2007.

8.Repeat step 5, then type "WarnFileSize" and hit "Enter" twice. Type: 0x0000BE00 if you're using Outlook 2010 or 0x00004C00 if you're using Outlook 2003 or 2007. Make sure that the "Base" is set to Hexadecimal. Click "OK."

9.Repeat step 8, but type "WarnLargeFileSize" instead of "WarnFileSize." Use the same values for Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2003 and 2007. Click "OK." Reboot your computer.

Solved Open Office asking for document recovery everytime

2010-09-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

Is your open office asking for document recovery every time ? if your document doesn’t exist then also ? If Yes, then follow this document to solve your problem.

Follow below steps to solve your problem :-

To solve this problem :-

For root :-

Go to Terminal -> cd .openoffice.org//user/registry/
data/org/openoffice/Office/

There you will find Recovery.xcu

[root@raghav Office]# ls
Common.xcu Histories.xcu Linguistic.xcu Recovery.xcu Views.xcu Writer.xcu

Remove Recovery.xcu

Now try to open it will not ask you for recovery.

For User :-

Go to Terminal -> cd /home//.openoffice.org//user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/

There you will find Recovery.xcu

[ub@raghav Office]# ls
Common.xcu Histories.xcu Linguistic.xcu Recovery.xcu Views.xcu Writer.xcu

Remove Recovery.xcu

Now try to open it will not ask you for recovery.

Let us know its work for you or not.
Enjoy Open Source :)

How to install Partition Editor (GParted)

2010-09-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

Open a terminal window and type in:

sudo apt-get install gparted

After that you can find GParted in the Gnome menu under System ->Administration ->Partition Editor

How to Remove Unneeded Fonts in Ubuntu

2010-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

I really appreciate the fact that Ubuntu comes ready to use in multiple languages; the fact that Ubuntu and Linux in general serve an international community is one of my favorite things about the operating system. That being said, I don’t need a lot of the fonts that come in the basic install of Ubuntu, especially the ones with Arabic and Asian characters. While looking for a way to safely and easily remove these unneeded fonts in Ubuntu, I came across this thread at LaunchPad, advising the following command in a terminal:

sudo apt-get remove ttf-kochi-mincho ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-arabeyes ttf-arphic-ukai ttf-arphic-uming ttf-baekmuk ttf-bengali-fonts ttf-devanagari-fonts ttf-gentium ttf-gujarati-fonts ttf-indic-fonts ttf-kannada-fonts ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-lao ttf-malayalam-fonts ttf-mgopen ttf-oriya-fonts ttf-punjabi-fonts ttf-tamil-fonts ttf-telugu-fonts ttf-thai-tlwg ttf-unfonts-core ttf-indic-fonts-core ttf-wqy-zenhei

This worked excellently as a way to remove unneeded fonts in Ubuntu.

5 Steps to Setup User and Group Disk Quota on Linux

2010-09-02T02:54:00.000-07:00

On Linux, you can setup disk quota using one of the following methods:

* File system base disk quota allocation
* User or group based disk quota allocation

On the user or group based quota, following are three important factors to consider:

* Hard limit – For example, if you specify 2GB as hard limit, user will not be able to create new files after 2GB

* Soft limit – For example, if you specify 1GB as soft limit, user will get a warning message “disk quota exceeded”, once they reach 1GB limit. But, they’ll still be able to create new files until they reach the hard limit

* Grace Period – For example, if you specify 10 days as a grace period, after user reach their hard limit, they would be allowed additional 10 days to create new files. In that time period, they should try to get back to the quota limit.

1. Enable quota check on filesystem

First, you should specify which filesystem are allowed for quota check.

Modify the /etc/fstab, and add the keyword usrquota and grpquota to the corresponding filesystem that you would like to monitor.

The following example indicates that both user and group quota check is enabled on /home filesystem

# cat /etc/fstab
LABEL=/home /home ext2 defaults,usrquota,grpquota 1 2

Reboot the server after the above change.

2. Initial quota check on Linux filesystem using quotacheck

Once you’ve enabled disk quota check on the filesystem, collect all quota information initially as shown below.

# quotacheck -avug
quotacheck: Scanning /dev/sda3 [/home] done
quotacheck: Checked 5182 directories and 31566 files
quotacheck: Old file not found.
quotacheck: Old file not found.

In the above command:

* a: Check all quota-enabled filesystem
* v: Verbose mode
* u: Check for user disk quota
* g: Check for group disk quota

The above command will create a aquota file for user and group under the filesystem directory as shown below.

# ls -l /home/

-rw------- 1 root root 11264 Jun 21 14:49 aquota.user
-rw------- 1 root root 11264 Jun 21 14:49 aquota.group

3. Assign disk quota to a user using edquota command

Use the edquota command as shown below, to edit the quota information for a specific user.

For example, to change the disk quota for user ‘ramesh’, use edquota command, which will open the soft, hard limit values in an editor as shown below.

# edquota ramesh

Disk quotas for user ramesh (uid 500):
Filesystem blocks soft hard inodes soft hard
/dev/sda3 1419352 0 0 1686 0 0

Once the edquota command opens the quota settings for the specific user in a editor, you can set the following limits:

* soft and hard limit for disk quota size for the particular user.
* soft and hard limit for the total number of inodes that are allowed for the particular user.

4. Report the disk quota usage for users and group using repquota

Use the repquota command as shown below to report the disk quota usage for the users and groups.

# repquota /home
*** Report for user quotas on device /dev/sda3
Block grace time: 7days; Inode grace time: 7days
Block limits File limits
User used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
root -- 566488 0 0 5401 0 0
nobody -- 1448 0 0 30 0 0
ramesh -- 1419352 0 0 1686 0 0
john -- 26604 0 0 172 0 0

5. Add quotacheck to daily cron job

Add the quotacheck to the daily cron job. Create a quotacheck file as shown below under the /etc/cron.daily directory, that will run the quotacheck command everyday. This will send the output of the quotacheck command to root email address.

# cat /etc/cron.daily/quotacheck
quotacheck -avug

Ubuntu: Find Out Default Gateway

2010-08-31T04:34:00.000-07:00

How do I find out default gateway IP address (default router IP assigned) for my Ubuntu Linux systems?

Use the route or ip command to get default routing table for Ubuntu Linux. Open the terminal and type the following command:

# route -n

Sample outputs:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 1 0 0 eth0
169.254.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

Destination for 0.0.0.0 is set to 192.168.1.1 via wlan0 interface i.e. 192.168.1.1 is default gateway. If you just type the route command with the -n switch it show word default instead of 0.0.0.0:

route

Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 1 0 0 eth0
link-local * 255.255.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

p route Command

The following command does the same thing:

# ip route show

Sample outputs:

192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.200 metric 1
169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0 scope link metric 1000
default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0 proto static

Set the Default Browser and Email Client in Ubuntu

2010-08-31T03:26:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu has a simple way to configure the default browser and mail client. Of course, Firefox is the default application for web browsing, so you shouldn’t ever need to use this screen, but if you insist, here’s how to do it.

Navigate to System \ Preferences \ Preferred Applications

Here you can specify which application you want to use for web or email links. For instance, if you are using Thunderbird for email instead of evolution, you can change that setting here.

Explains: UNIX / IT Sys Admin L1, L2, and L3 Support Levels

2010-08-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

What is the definition of L1, L2 and L3 UNIX / Linux / IT support? What is the meaning of L1,L2 and L3 IT support? What is level of support for sys admin jobs?

Generally L1, L2, and L3 support apply to any form of technical support such as mobile phones, electronics devices, computers, servers, and networking devices. All levels have different meanings and differ slightly from company to company and IT support groups. Basically, each person working at each level must have more experience and education in the field of support than its previous level.

L1 is nothing but Level 1 support which is provided by a call center support person or engineer. L1 tech usually follows certain steps to solve the problem. In other words L1 will ask you various questions and some sort of software will be used to map your answers to further questions. L1 support takes your requests using the telephone, email or chat sessions. This kind of support engineers are are trained on the product with limited experience. They should able to resolve 50%-60% of all problems. For example, restart failed httpd service can be handled by L1.

If L1 support failed to solve your problem than it is escalated to L2 (Level 2) support engineer. L2 support will try to find out exact causes of the problems. Almost all L2 engineers are a subject matter expert with 3-5 years rocks solid experience. For example, if httpd can not be started after server reboot than L2 tech who is httpd and UNIX subject matter expert can try to resolve the problem using various debugging methods.

If L2 support failed to resolve your problem than it is escalated to L3 (Level 3) support professional. Usually, L3 support works closely with product engineering team or with source code itself with various debugging tools. L3 support only handles very difficult support cases.

Please note that some companies offer certain levels of support such as L3 only on a fee basis.

Ubuntu Equivalent of IPconfig

2010-08-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

Easily view the network settings in Ubuntu, along the lines of the windows ipconfig /all command.

The problem is that there is not one command in Ubuntu as all encompassing as the windows IPconfig command. So here is a list of various ubuntu commands that are equivalent to the various options of IPconfig.

To view basic network settings:

Windows: ipconfig

Ubuntu: ifconfig

To renew your network settings:

Windows:ipconfig /release
then ipconfig /renew

Ubuntu: sudo dhclient

To view your gateway:

Windows:ipconfig /all

Ubuntu: sudo route
look for "default"

To view your DNS settings:

Windows:ipconfig /all

Ubuntu: cat /etc/resolv.conf

Backing Up Data In Ubuntu Using sBackup

2010-08-30T02:42:00.000-07:00

In Ubuntu, it is surprisingly easy to backup your data. Gone are the days that require you to remember all the text line commands to type in the command prompt. With sBackup, you can easily backup your data with few clicks of your mouse. let me show you how.
First, install sbackup
sudo apt-get install sbackup
After installed, two new entries will be found under System > Administration > Simple Backup Config, and Simple Backup Restore. Simple Backup Config is used to create or amend the backup job, while Simple Backup Restore is used after the disaster has occurred to restore the files.
when you open "Simple Backup GUI" it will look like this:

Under the General tab, there are three ways you can choose to backup your data:

Use recommended backup setting
Use custom backup setting
Manual backups only

If you are plain lazy and just to click, save and let it run by itself, you should choose the “recommended backup setting”. This will do a full backup every week and daily incremental backups to any changes made to the files. One point to note, this setting does not backup multimedia files and all file sizes that are more than 100MB.

For anyone who wants more control over which files to backup, the custom backup setting should be used. This setting allows you to define what should be included, excluded, the backup destination, when to backup and what to do with old backups.

Manual backup setting is for those who want to perform the backup manually

Configuring backup setting

If you are choosing the custom backup or manual backup setting, here are your configuration choices:

The Include tab shows a list of directory that you want to backup. The two main directories you want to include are the /home and /etc. The /home contains all your personal data while the /etc contains all the application you have installed.

On the Exclude tab, you can do just the opposite, excluding the files that you don’t want to backup. You have more choices here. On the left, there are four tabs – paths, file types, regex and max size. You can exclude all files from a path, all files of a certain files type, all files that match a certain expression or any files that are bigger than a certain size (the file size to be fixed by you). Some of the directories that you might want to exclude are /proc, /var/cache, /tmp, /dev, /var/tmp, /lost+found, /mnt, /media, /sys.

Next, we proceed on to the Destination tab. This is where you choose the location to backup your data to. The default backup directory is /var/backup. However, you can change it to other directory of your preference. You can also choose to backup to a remote directory via SSH or FTP.

The next option available to you is the Time setting. You set the time where the backup is executed. It can be hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly or if you prefer, set the precise day of the month, day of the week and even the hour and minute to backup your data. The last option in this setting is to set the minimum number of days before a full backup is required.

The last tab is the Purging. Select how you want to handle your old and incomplete backups. You can either choose to erase all backups older than your preset number of days, or use a logarithmic setting where one backup from the previous day, week, month and year are kept and the rest removed.

Once you are done and satisfied with the configuration, press “Backup Now!” to start the backup. Depending on the setting you made, the process can take from few minutes to few hours.

Restoring the backups

It is very easy to restore the backup. Got to System -> Administration -> Simple Backup Restore. Enter your password and the window (shown in the screen below) will pop up.

Choose the backup directory where you backup your file and select the files or folders that you want to restore. To restore to the same location, press Restore. To restore to other location, press Restore As.

That’s it!

Install anything in Ubuntu!

2010-08-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

Having problem in installing anything in your Ubuntu OS.Take the terminal and issue
the two commands that you can use are:

sudo apt-get install PACKAGE and sudo aptitude install PACKAGE

eg: For installing ssh server you have to issue

sudo apt-get install ssh

The sudo part of the command means you temporarily grant super-user/administrator rights to the command, provided you supply a correct user password

It’s also possible to search from the command-line like it is in Synaptic. Try this:

apt-cache search PACKAGE or aptitude search PACKAGE

To find several packages related to what we’re looking for, together with brief descriptions
apt-cache show PACKAGETo uninstall a package:

sudo apt-get remove PACKAGE and sudo aptitude remove PACKAGE

Removing configuration files as well:

sudo apt-get remove –purge PACKAGE and sudo aptitude purge PACKAGE or

sudo dpkg –purge remove PACKAGE

Scan to PDF using gscan2pdf in Ubuntu

2010-08-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

A GUI to ease the process of producing a multipage PDF from a scan. gscan2pdf should work on almost any Linux/BSD machine.

Install gscan2pdf in Ubuntu

You need to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following line save the file and exit

deb http://gscan2pdf.sourceforge.net/download/debian binary/

Now you need to update the source list with the following comamnd

sudo apt-get update

install gscan2pdf with the following command

sudo apt-get install gscan2pdf

This will install all the required packages.

If you want to open gscan2pdf go to Applications--->Graphics--->gscan2pdf

Howto: Shutdown Linux Box Automatically

2010-08-20T01:17:00.001-07:00

You may wonder - why should I shutdown the Linux box automatically? It depends upon your situation. For example, you are downloading couple of tar balls and you want to go home early. You can schedule a job to shutdown Linux after downloading is completed. Linux/UNIX/BSD/OS X comes with at and cron commands to automate task. Almost all common task can be automated using at command.
Common Tasks For at Command

1. Shutdown/reboot the system
2. Email yourself files
3. Send birthday remainders

Commands

* at- Execute a task at a specific time. For example, shutdown computer, send birthday remainder etc. Useful to schedule one job at a time or a single future event.

* cron – If you want to shutdown Linux box automatically everyday 8 pm then you need to use cron instead of at command (see below for examples). Useful to schedule recurring events or daily events such as backup data, or check system security etc.

at Command Examples

Let us see how to shutdow a Linux automatically at 8 pm, type the command at 8pm and press [enter] key, then type halt followed by enter key. To save your job press CTRL+D.

# at 8pm

Sample outputs:

at> halt

(Press CTRL+D)

Try out the following utilities:

atq - List the current at jobs pending.
atrm - Used to remove pending at jobs.

at command accept fairly complex time specifications, for example:
Run job at 6am on monday:

at 6am monday

Run job in 5 minutes time:

at now + 5 minutes

Run job at 4pm but 3 days later:

at 4pm + 3 days

Run job at 10am on 31st July:

at 10am Jul 31

See the file /usr/share/doc/at/timespec for complete time specifications and read man pages of at, atq, atrm. Make sure you have atd service running, if not start it using the following

command:

# /etc/init.d/atd start

Linux Cron job to Shutdown Linux server/Desktop system

First, login as the root user and at a shell prompt type crontab -e command so that you can add

cronjob:

# crontab -e

OR

# crontab -e -u root

Append the following entry to it to shutdown box at 20:00 hrs [24 hour close format]:

0 20 * * * /sbin/shutdown -h now

Save and close the file.

How to change computer name in Ubuntu

2010-08-16T01:05:00.000-07:00

Computer name is normally given during the OS installing phases. But you could easily change the computer name with a simple GUI tool which is there in Ubuntu by default.There is a command line tool as well if you are so particular.GUI tool is simple and easy to use.Here is a step by step guide on how to change the computer name.

Using GUI

* Go to System -> Administration -> Networking

* Network settings

General Tab -> Host Settings -> Hostname: Specify the computer name

* save changes and restart your computer.

Using command line

* Goto terminal and type the following

sudo gedit /etc/hostname

* Change your hostname Also take a look at /etc/hosts. And change your old name to your new one too.

How To Set A Static IP On Ubuntu 8.10

2010-08-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Due to a bug if you want to assign a static IP on Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop your setting will be overwritten after the next reboot because of a bug

Solution

Solution is to get down and dirty with the command line, it takes less than 2 minutes. Edit /etc/network/interfaces and enter the following values.

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.51
network 192.168.1.0
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

And save it.

Now move on to edit the /etc/resolv.conf. And add the name server.

sudo gedit /etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 192.168.1.1

If you don’t want to reboot the system restart the networking service instead.

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Installing Indian Rupee font in Ubuntu & Debian Linux

2010-08-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

1) Download the font from Foradian Technologies blog.

2) Open a terminal & enter the following commands with root privileges/root user,

mkdir /usr/share/fonts/ttf

cp Rupee_Foradian.ttf /usr/share/fonts/ttf

apt-get install ttmkfdir

cd /usr/share/fonts/ttf

ttmkfdir > fonts.scale

mkfontdir

cd /usr/share/fonts/ttf/

chmod 644 /usr/share/fonts/ttf/Rupee_Foradian.ttf

3) To insert the font in your document, type grave ascent(`) key, the one above tab key. You should have the new rupee symbol in your document.

That’s it. Enjoy.............. :)

How to find your Linux Kernel Version.

2010-08-07T04:03:00.001-07:00

Checking your Linux Kernel Version: Once your up and running with your favorite Linux distribution
, you might find the need to install additional software packages or drivers. Some of these software applications or drivers can be specific to a Linux Kernel version in which case you will need to find this information. Finding the Kernel Version, Release information and Operating System from a running system is fairly straight forward and can be done directly from a terminal.

Locating your Linux Kernel Version:

Open up a terminal and type one of the following commands listed in bold text.

uname -a prints all information

uname -r prints the kernel release

uname -v prints the kernel version

uname -o prints the operating system

GShutdown – Schedule System Shutdown In Ubuntu

2010-08-06T04:47:00.000-07:00

We have covered many tools which perform or schedule system shutdown in Windows, WinDown and Shutdown Agent are two examples. GShutdown is a tool for Ubuntu which performs and schedules system shutdown and restart.

In order to install this application, open the terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get install gshutdown

Once the installation is completed, go to the Applications->Accessories->Gshutdown to launch it. Specify the time to shutdown or restart your computer and hit the Start button.

You will find its icon located in the system tray (Known as Panel in Linux) for faster access.

It works on Gnome, KDE and XCF desktop environments. Enjoy!

How To Change Minimum Password Length In Windows 2003 Server

2010-08-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

to specify a minimum legnth for passwords in windows server 2003, modify the local security policy and change the minimum pass word legnth option. to change the setting or properties, follow these steps:

1. go to: start > administrative tools > Local Security Policy or Domain Security Policy > Account Policy > Minimum password length then you will see a window like this.

2. make the changes and click ok

that's it. hope this tutorial helps you

Outlook express unknown error Step by Step fix guide

2010-08-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

Many of us have encountered quite a few Outlook express unknown errors. Some are just annoying, some are easy to deal with, while some are a real danger to your emails. One of these high-risk errors isoutlook express unknown error. How does it manifest and how do you fix outlook express unknown error? Let's find out!
The error manifests itself when downloading e-mails. You will get and error message like below:

"An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'name', Server: 'mail.raghav.com', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800C0133"

It looks like a very nasty error! And it is! Your whole Inbox is corrupted.

In Windows XP, Outlook's user files (extensions .DBX and .WAB) are by default marked as hidden. So you must make them visible. To view these files, in Windows Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders. Simply go to Start -> Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View. You should now see the files. Make sure that Outlook is closed. Find the .DBX file for the folder in question (Inbox.dbx) and rename it to Inboxold.dbx. A new Inbox will be created automatically when you open Outlook

How to configure and maintain Additional Domain Controller step by step

2010-07-31T01:17:00.000-07:00

You can install additional domain controller, if you already have one main domain controller. Using additional domain controller, you can perform the proper load balancing as well as improve the reliability and availability of network resources.
Perform the following steps to add additional domain controller to your windows 2003 server domain controller.

There are some pre-requirement for install Additional Domain Controller.

Operating system must be MS-Server 2003.
One partition must be a NTFS partition with enough free space.
Domain Controller must be configured
DNS and TCP/IP settings must be configured.

Computer must be connected properly (physically and logically) to other computers.

Server end Configurations for Additional Domain Controller

First click on start button to open Run option and type here "dcpromo" then press Ok button.

Now windows active directory welcome page will appear, click Next button.

Again click Next button on "Operating System Compatibility" (here you can read some requirement for domain client).

For additional domain controller, select the option "Additional Domain Controller for an existing Domain" and click Next button.

Now give the Username, Password and Domain name of the Domain Controller System and click Next.

On the next "Database and Log Folders" page, you can change the location of active directory database folder and Log folder also. For best performance, store these folders on separate partition or hard disks. Click Next for default setting.

Now wizard will show you the path of "Shared system Volume folder location", you should not change its default path. Click Next for default setting.

On the page "Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password" and give "Restore Mode Password", if you want otherwise leave this empty and click Next.

Click Next on Summary page, after this active directory service will be start to install. After complete the wizard, Restart your computer to save settings.

Ubuntu and HP LaserJet 1020 step-by-step

2010-07-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

First get necessary tools:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

then download foo2zjs drivers

wget -O foo2zjs.tar.gz http://foo2zjs.rkkda.com/foo2zjs.tar.gz

untar

tar -zxvf foo2zjs.tar.gz
cd foo2zjs

uninstall previous isntallations:

sudo make uninstall

build:

make

get HP LJ1020 firmware file:

./getweb 1020

install printers linux support:

sudo make install install-hotplug cups

How to install OpenOffice.org 3 on Ubuntu 8.10

2010-07-28T01:37:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu is coming by default with OpenOffice 2.4, so, I decided to upgrade to version 3. To do this, there are two methods, either install it from “http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main deb” repository or manually from files directly downloaded on the OpenOffice web site. I started by trying the installation from the repository because it’s much simpler.

Here is how:

First method :

First, we need to remove OpenOffice 2.4 from our computer:

sudo apt-get --purge remove openoffice.org-core

After, we must add the repository “deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ubuntu intrepid main” without the quotes to the file “/etc/apt/sources.list”. You can use gedit, kate or your favorite text editor like this:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

We now need to add the public key of the repository :

sudo wget http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/files_blog/key_ppa_office sudo apt-key add key_ppa_office

Once done, we must update the repository list and do the installation:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install openoffice.org

The installation went well for me. But, OOo (openoffice.org) didn’t appear in the menu. So, I tried to run it using the command “openoffice.org3″ or “openoffice” but nothing happens.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to install it manually from the openoffice web site. If for you, OOo works, lucky you are! You can stop here!

[ad#Adsense]
Second method :

I started by removing the repository that I have previously added to my repository list. Simply delete the line that was added at the beginning of this article.

Then, download OOo from their web site.

Here are the commands to download it, if the links doesn’t works, go on their web site:

French 32-bit version:

wget http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Office/OpenOffice.org/localized/fr/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_fr_deb.tar.gz

French 64-bit version:

wget http://ftp.kddilabs.jp/office/openoffice/localized/fr/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxX86-64_install_fr_deb.tar.gz

English 32-bit version:

wget http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Office/OpenOffice.org/stable/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxIntel_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

English 64-bit version:

wget http://mirrors.evolva.ro/openoffice.org/stable/3.0.1/OOo_3.0.1_LinuxX86-64_install_en-US_deb.tar.gz

Once downloaded, we must extract it:

tar -xvmf OOo_3.0.1_Linux*_install_*_deb.tar.gz

We then proceeded to the installation from the DEBS folder:

cd OOO300_m15_native_*/DEBS/ sudo dpkg -i *.deb cd desktop-integration/ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

And so OOo3 is installed! Unfortunately, for my part, it wasn’t added to the menu by itself, so I had to run the following command:

openoffice.org3

By against, at the start, it crashed instantly and it tried to recover in a loop without stopping. I got the following error message:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'com::sun::star::uno::RuntimeException'

To correct this, simply delete the parameter folder of OOo in the home folder like this:

sudo rm -rf ~/.openoffice.org

The next time you start OOo, just say no when asked if you want to import your personal data from openoffice2 and manually enter them when they will ask for.

Good use of openoffice.org 3!

How To : Install Webmin In Ubuntu

2010-07-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

Tired of using texts to administrate your ubuntu server ?. This How To will help you to Install Webmin in your Ubuntu box and make smooth administration.

What is Webmin ?

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration in Unix or Unix like (i mean linux) systems.

By using webmin in any modern web browser you can setup following things:

User accounts
Apache
DNS
File sharing etc.,

How To Install Webmin in Ubuntu ?

To run webmin you need some perl libraries.

Use the below code to install those libraries:

sudo apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl

Now download the webmin Debian package:

wget http://www.webmin.com/download/deb/webmin-current.deb

Install it using the command:
sudo dpkg -i
How To Install Webmin in Ubuntu ?

To run webmin you need some perl libraries.

Use the below code to install those libraries:

sudo apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl

Now download the webmin Debian package:

wget http://www.webmin.com/download/deb/webmin-current.deb

Install it using the command:
sudo dpkg -i webmin_1.510_all.deb

And Open you web browser and enter:

https://your-server-ip:10000/
Get more details here .

Thats it ..

Linux Applications You Must Be Familiar With If You Plan on Landing a Linux Job

2010-06-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Landing a Linux job really doesn’t have much to do with your school qualifications or what your resume says. With Linux, it’s all about experience. What you actually know will determine how far you get with a Linux job. Now, I’m not declaring that you must know everything listed in this article, but it’s important to be well versed in all aspects of Linux. Besides, if you plan to make Linux a part of your career, why not learn everything you can? In this document I will present you with Linux applications and what you should know about them at the very least. I then will present you with some outside links for further reading so that you can indulge and become more familiar with each Linux application listed.

If you’re looking to land a Linux job you must be familiar with these Linux applications or daemons.
Apache

Apache is the Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server program. A large portion of the Internet web sites you visit run Apache on the server the site is hosted on to serve your web pages. If you don’t know apache I suggest you learn the basics. Most Linux jobs will require you to at least dip your feet in some sort of apache administration.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install Apache.

How to configure Apache.

How to view Apache logs.

Must reads for Apache:

Official Apache HTTP Server Documentation

apt-get

apt-get is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be considered the user’s “back-end” to other tools using the APT library. apt-get is used mainly on Debian and Ubuntu but is cross-platform and the actual APT library has many different front-ends built for it. Apt-get is a pretty simple tool to use, so theres not much to learn here, but you should still be familiar with how it works.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install a package.

How to remove a package.

Must reads for apt-get:

Apt-get Man Page

How to use apt-get

Bash – GNU Bourne-Again SHell

Bash is an sh-compatible command language interpreter that executes commands read from the standard input or from a file. Bash also incorporates useful features from the Korn and C shells (ksh and csh).

It’s important to know how to program in Bash. There are a million ways to save time and energy if you can whip up a little bash script that automates something on the command line for you.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to write a basic Bash script.

How to configure Bash to execute jobs during login or logout.

Must reads for Bash:

Bash Man Page

Bash Guide for Beginners

Advanced Bash Scripting

Bash by Example

Bash Tutorial

chmod

chmod changes the permissions of each given file according to mode, which can be either a symbolic representation of changes to make, or an octal number representing the bit pattern for the new permissions.

Chmod is vital to any Linux user. If you don’t understand how to change permissions on files then you really shouldn’t be using Linux.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to set file and folder permissions with chmod.

Must reads for chmod:

Chmod Man Page

Linux File Permissions

Crontab

crontab is the program used to install, deinstall or list the tables used to drive the cron(8) daemon in Vixie Cron. Each user can have their own crontab, and though these are files in /var/spool/cron/crontabs, they are not intended to be edited directly.

Crontab is important to know if you want to execute a sort of “scheduled task” command that cron manages.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to schedule tasks with crontab.

How to edit each users crontab.

How to allow and disallow users to use crontab.

Crontab format.

Must reads for Crontab:

Crontab Man Page

Understanding Cron Jobs in 5 Minutes

Crontab: Scheduling Tasks

Find

GNU find searches the directory tree rooted at each given file name by evaluating the given expression from left to right, according to the rules of precedence (see section OPERATORS), until the outcome is known (the left hand side is false for and operations, true for or), at which point find moves on to the next file name.

Using find is crucial to saving time and energy on the Linux command line. You’ll find that the more you know about the awesome capabilities of find, the better off you are.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to find files throughout the whole system.

How to find only directories.

How to find files owned by a certain user.

Must reads for Find:

Study of Find

CLI Magic: Searching with Find

10 Useful uses of the find command

Iptables

Iptables is used to set up, maintain, and inspect the tables of IP packet filter rules in the Linux kernel. Several different tables may be defined. Each table contains a number of built-in chains and may also contain user-defined chains.

With iptables you have the ability to create firewall rules on your Linux computer to allow or restrict access in and out through each network interface.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to list iptables rules.

How to filter an IP from hitting your interface.

How to remove rules.

Must reads for iptables:

Iptables Man Page

Linux Firewalls using iptables

Designing a firewall using Iptables for the home user

Using iptables

MySQL

mysql is a simple SQL shell (with GNU readline capabilities). It supports interactive and non-interactive use. When used interactively, query results are presented in an ASCII-table format. When used non-interactively (for example, as a filter), the result is presented in tab-separated format. The output format can be changed using command options.

As a Linux user looking to land a Linux job, there is a strong possibility that you will be working in an environment that uses Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP (LAMP). You should be familiar with administrating a mysql server.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install MySQL.

How to configure MySQL.

How to view MySQL error logs.

How To Add and Remove MySQL users.

Must reads for MySQL:

MySQL Man Page

Official MySQL Documentation

OpenSSH and SSH

Ssh (SSH client) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for executing commands on a remote machine. You’ll probably find yourself using SSH on a daily basis if you land a Linux job.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to connect to a server with SSH.

How to set up key based authentication for SSH.
Perl

Perl is a language optimized for scanning arbitrary text files, extracting information from those text files, and printing reports based on that information. It’s also a good language for many system management tasks. The language is intended to be practical (easy to use, efficient, complete) rather than beautiful (tiny, elegant, minimal).

You’ll find administration tasks that you can create Perl scripts for will save you a ton of work in the long run if you know Perl.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to execute a perl script.

How to troubleshoot perl errors.

Must reads for Perl:

Perl Man Page

Official Perl Documentation

Simple Perl Scripts

Postfix

Postfix is a mail transfer agent (MTA) used on Linux as an alternative to Qmail and Sendmail. It handles the routing and delivery of email. Chances are you’ll run into some sort of postfix work in your Linux career, so why not learn what you can?

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to configure the postfix main.cf and master.cf files.

How to troubleshoot postfix errors and issues.

Must reads for Postfix:

Postfix Man Page

Official Postfix Documentation

Postfix Wiki

Postfix config How To

PHP

PHP (recursive acronym for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”) is a widely-used Open Source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. Learning a bit about PHP as well as Apache and MySQL is essential to your Linux career and landing that Linux job.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install and configure PHP on Linux.

How to debug and troubleshoot a PHP error.

Must reads for PHP:

Official PHP Documentation

How To Write PHP Scripts

Qmail

Qmail is a secure, reliable, efficient, simple message transfer agent. If your Linux job isn’t running Postfix or Sendmail, you’re probably going to need to know Qmail.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to Install and Configure Qmail.

How to find and interpret the Qmail log files.

How to debug and troubleshoot Qmail errors.

Must reads for Qmail:

Qmail Man Page

The Qmail Documentation Project

Qmail HowTo

Life With Qmail

RPM

rpm is a powerful Package Manager, which can be used to build, install, query, verify, update, and erase individual software packages. If you’re trying to land a Linux job with a large corporation, theres a good chance they run Red Hat, which uses RPM as it’s default package manager.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install RPM packages.

How to remove RPM packages.

How to check for RPM dependencies.

Must reads for RPM:

RPM Man Page

Official RPM Documentation

rsync

rsync uses the rsync remote-update protocol to greatly speed up file transfers when the destination file is being updated. Rsync basically only copies the diffs of files that have been changed.

Rsync is great for backing up files to another Linux host. If you plan on landing a Linux job you’ll definitely need to know rsync.

At the Least, You Should Know:

The syntax of using rsync to copy files to another host machine.

Must reads for rsync:

rsync Documentation

rsync Tips and Tricks

Using rsync and SSH

Samba

The Samba software suite is a collection of programs that implements the Server Message Block (commonly abbreviated as SMB) protocol for UNIX systems. This protocol is sometimes also referred to as the Common Internet File System (CIFS). For a more thorough description, see http://www.ubiqx.org/cifs/. Samba also implements the NetBIOS protocol in nmbd.

Most large companies that run a Linux and Windows environment use Samba to share files across the network. You should be familiar with Samba as much as possible.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install and configure Samba.

How to set up Samba users.

How to set up Samba shares.

Must reads for Samba:

Samba Man Page

Official Samba Documentation

Samba Setup Guide for Linux

SCP

scp copies files between hosts on a network. It uses ssh for data transfer, and uses the same authentication and provides the same security as ssh. scp will ask for passwords or passphrases if they are needed for authentication.

SCP is important to know if you need to copy files between Linux hosts over a public or private network with security in mind.

At the Least, You Should Know:

The syntax for copying a file from one host to another host.

Must reads for SCP:

SCP Man Page

SCP Tricks

Sendmail

Sendmail is another Mail Transfer Agent, similar to Qmail and Postfix, that sends a message to one or more recipients, routing the message over whatever networks are necessary. Sendmail does internetwork forwarding as necessary to deliver the message to the correct place. A majoriy of servers run Sendmail as their MTA so it’s important to know.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to Install Sendmail.

How to configure Sendmail to send and receive Email.

How to view Sendmail logs.

Must reads for Sendmail:

Sendmail Man Page

Official Sendmail Documentation
Tar

Tar is an archiving program designed to store and extract files from an archive file known as a tarfile. You most defenitley need to know tar if you plan on landing any Linux job.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to extract a tarball and tar/gzip file.

How to create a tar file.

Must reads for Tar:

Tar Man Page

GNU tar Documentation
VI/Vim

Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to Vi. It can be used to edit all kinds of plain text. It is especially useful for editing programs.

It’s important to know vim because it is the one text editor that is almost always available by default on most Linux distributions. You can’t say the same for the simpler editors like pico and nano. Learn vim!

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to open a file and make a change.

How to save a file.

How to exit vim.

Must reads for Vim:

Vi/Vim Man Page

Official Vim Documentation

The Vim Commands Cheat Sheet

Vim Graphical Cheat Sheet based Tutorial

vsftpd

vsftpd is the Very Secure File Transfer Protocol Daemon. Most Linux servers that run an FTP daemon use vsftpd.

At the Least, You Should Know:

How to install vsftpd.

How to configure vsftpd.

How to view vsftpd logs and troubleshoot issues.

Must Reads for vsftpd:

Vsftpd.conf Man Page

A vsftpd Guide

I’ve covered all the applications I believe you should be familiar with if you’re trying to land a Linux job. You may not use all of them in an everyday Linux job, but these applications are the most widely used with Linux administration and Linux engineering jobs.

Find out what IPs are on your subnet

2010-06-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick tip on how to find out what host IPs are on your subnet using nmap. This is useful to find out what IPs are being used or just to know how many devices are connected to the subnet.

# nmap -v -sP 192.168.1.0/24

You can replace the 192.168.1.0/24 address with whatever your IP and subnet is.

Also, for a cleaner output that removes the lines that tell you an IP is not used, try the following:

# nmap -v -sP 192.168.1.0/24 | grep -v "appears to be down"

How to configure static IP on Ubuntu

2010-06-23T02:28:00.001-07:00

Do you use Ubuntu and wish to set a static IP for your machine? It’s simple. Follow the steps below to find out how.

* Right click the network manager icon at the top right of your desktop
* Select Edit Connections
* Select Wired
* Click the EDIT button
* Click the IPv4 settings tab
* Select Manual from the method drop down list
* Click the ADD button to add your static IP address
* Add your DNS addresses in the DNS servers field. You can separate each DNS entry with a comma
* Click OK.
* Restart networking using this command: /etc/init.d/networking restart

10 things you should do before, during, and after reinstalling Windows

2009-02-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

There are some very good reasons why you might want to reinstall Microsoft Windows. Whether it is 2000, XP, or Vista, the registry can become corrupted or it can accumulate settings for programs long-since forgotten, leading to sluggish performance. Or you can find yourself with a stubborn Trojan Horse. The only way to be 100 percent sure that you have rid yourself of some particularly nasty viruses is to reload Windows.

I have wanted to document the steps needed to properly reinstall Windows for a long time now. I always end up missing something after the reload and find myself scrambling to find IDs, passwords, configuration settings, or favorite Web sites lost in the reinstall.

Be sure to set aside a large block of time to do the reinstall. Don't do it before a term paper is due or your business presentation slide show. A weekend is a good time.

An OS reinstall is also a good time to decide to upgrade. If you want to upgrade to Vista, there are a lot of options available to you. For more information about these options and the pros and cons of Vista, please read Vista Confusion.

When you run the Windows Vista set-up program, you will see a window with two options: Update and Custom (Advanced). The Update option is not available when reinstalling Windows Vista. Under the Custom option, you will be doing what is known as a Clean Install. Follow these 10 steps and you will, hopefully, not find yourself having to scramble for files or information that you need after the reinstall.

Please Note: I have gone to great care to test and retest this documentation. It is still possible that there are errors or missing information or that I have not covered your specific reinstallation configuration. Please provide feedback in the forum if you find any issues.

Before reinstallation
1. Document your login IDs, passwords, and settings.
If you are using your browser to store the passwords for Web sites, you will be in for a rude awakening after reinstalling Windows - they will be gone. Your browser is a poor place to keep your Web site IDs and passwords.

One possible option is to store your information in a spreadsheet. However, if you keep your IDs and passwords in a password-protected Excel or OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet, be aware that there are programs that can recover/discover the password for most .xls files. I suggest you use stronger encryption techniques to better protect Excel 2002, 2003, and 2007 spreadsheets.

If you do have Excel 2002 or later, secure your spreadsheet from hackers and then make sure you don't lose your password! Next, add your IDs and passwords. Create a row in your spreadsheet for your ISP, e-mail, Web hosting company, personal Web sites, and any other password-protected logins. This file is also a good place to keep your e-mail POP3, SMTP, and newsserver name.

If you don't have Excel you can keep the IDs and passwords on a piece of paper securely locked away in a safe place or you can choose one of the software alternatives available. RoboForm is a popular way to secure your browser login user name and password but is not freeware. GuardID Systems offers a product called ID Vault that is supposed to be a secure way to store your IDs and passwords - for a small price. Do not keep your IDs and passwords in a Notepad or Word document unsecured and "in the clear," readable by anyone with access to your computer or to a hacker.

2. Export your e-mail and address book, bookmarks/favorites, and cookies.
You can export your e-mail and contacts from Outlook Express, Outlook, MS Mail, and most third-party e-mail programs. I have a folder called Mail Exports under my Archive folder where I export my e-mail. You can export from the various mailboxes. Select the Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, and Drafts. Unless you have a special reason otherwise, you can exclude the Deleted and Junk mail boxes.

I don't bother exporting my contacts. If I need a contact, I pull it up from an archived e-mail. You might want to export your contacts though, especially if you have a large number.

I used to always forget about bookmarks for my favorite Web sites. I had to spend time searching for a favorite site after Windows was reinstalled. I made a promise that I would export my IE Favorites and Firefox Bookmarks the next time I did a Windows reinstall. You can also export feeds and cookies.

3. Download the latest applications and drivers.
There is a core set of applications that you know you will be using. One good way to identify these core apps is to take a look at your desktop and Start menu. You can save an image of your desktop to a non-system folder and use that as a guide to reinstalling your core apps. You can also look at your installed programs in Programs and Features located in the Control Panel.

I have a logical drive named Documents and on that drive a folder called Downloads. I keep all my apps and drivers downloaded from the Internet there. These add up in a hurry. To keep it organized, I have a lot of subfolders including one for Apps and one for Drivers.

Once you have a list of your core apps, download the latest versions from the Internet and save them to your \Downloads\Apps folder or a non-system folder of your choice.

Some of your core apps may be on DVD, CD, or even floppy. Pull out your media and set it in a stack ready for reinstallation later.

Download the latest version of your favorite anti-virus software. I like Alwil Software's Avast! The free home version includes real-time protection for e-mail, instant message, Web browser, Outlook Exchange, and four other types of real-time protection. If you can, download a file containing the latest virus definitions.

How do you know what drivers you will need? There are two basic types of drivers. I separate them here because updating them is usually handled differently:

Motherboard Specific Drivers - Auto Update

a.. System and Chipset (usually Intel)
b.. Onboard Sound
c.. Onboard Video (some motherboards)
d.. Onboard LAN
Many motherboard manufactures and computer vendors have an application that will check all the motherboard-related drivers to see if they are current. If your manufacturer or vendor provides this type of application, go to their Web site and download the latest version now.

If you don't have access to an update utility, you have to manually identify the motherboard-related drivers that you will need:

Other drivers - Manual Update

a.. Sound Card (if your computer has a sound card)
b.. Video Card (if your computer has a video card)
c.. Modem
d.. RAID (Intel Matrix RAID, JMicron RAID, or other if you have a RAID-controller card)
e.. Other Unique Devices
If you do not already know the type of video card, sound card, modem, RAID, or other unique devices in your system, you can identify them by opening the Device Manager (Figure A).

Figure A

The expanded items in the Device Manager show the devices installed on my computer requiring a manual driver download and install.
If you aren't running RAID, you should not need to identify any Storage controllers. If you are running RAID, you will need to have the driver file available on a floppy disk or CD if installing XP or previous versions of Windows. You also need to know the exact driver/controller name - Intel 82801 GR/GH SATA RAID for my system. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Vista recognizes your hard drives during setup and you can get your RAID drivers from there.

I don't have a sound card in my system, but if you do, expand the Sound, video and game controllers item to determine the sound card installed in your computer.

Mike Smith has put together a handy Windows Reinstall Checklist (PDF) that you might want to print and use.

After identifying the drivers you need to install, download them and save them to a non-system logical drive. Do not pull them from old floppies or CDs unless you are sure that new drivers are not available.

4. Housecleaning and backing up your data.
Now is the time to clean up your hard drive by deleting unneeded or unwanted files. Cleaning up years of accumulated files that you no longer need or want is no fun. If you want to make it less of a chore, you can start a week or more in advance of the reinstall. Spend one or two hours each day deleting the files you are sure that you want to send to the great bit-bucket in the sky.

This is also an excellent time to do a thorough anti-virus scan of all your drives. You don't want to back up infected files.

Then do a full backup, which is easy for me to say, right? You can spend hours doing a full backup, but this is a good investment of your time. Back up anything that you don't want to lose. It is especially important if you are one of the unfortunate ones without a Windows OEM disc or a vendor reinstall disc. Many computer vendors put the Windows setup and installation files on a separate partition or folder on the hard drive. If you have a vendor built computer, Windows Reinstall - OEM Computers is a must-read.

If you will be reinstalling Vista on a different partition, you will need almost 15GB of free space minimum on a logical drive/partition to load Vista. I like to create a partition of 30-40GB for the 32-bit version of Vista and 40-50GB for the 64 bit version. Do a full format of the logical drive/partition that will be your new system partition so that you will have a clean Vista-ready partition.

Warning! If you will be dual booting using XP and Vista, do not use XP to create the partition that you will install Vista on. For a very helpful guide to issues dual booting XP and Vista please read Dual Booting Windows Vista & Windows XP by Bert Kinney.

5. Service packs
As of October 2008, the latest service packs are SP3 for XP and SP1 for Vista. There are five ways to retrieve and install the latest service packs. Some of these methods reduce or eliminate your risk to security vulnerabilities. Some are alternative methods you can use if you are having problems installing the service pack from Windows Update. If you are not concerned about either of these two issues, you can skip this section entirely and move on to item 6.

There are five ways to get the latest Windows service pack:

a.. Download it via Windows Update
b.. Download it from the Microsoft Web site
c.. Order it on CD/DVD disc
d.. Order the latest copy of Windows that includes the latest service pack (should be noted in the product description)
e.. Install Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) if available and if the computer is networked on a local Intranet
The update is much smaller when done through the Update utility found in the Control Panel. I planned to recommend that it is best to download the latest service pack and install it manually. Doing this would install important security updates in the service pack before connecting to the Internet. After a request for information from Microsoft I received the following response as to why that is not recommended:

"Microsoft strongly recommends using Windows Update to download and install Windows Vista SP1 on single PCs.

If a customer prefers to install Windows Vista SP1 from a DVD and has Internet access, they should first visit Windows Update and install all recommended and optional drivers and updates (the SP1 DVDs will have this advice on their packaging). To order Windows Vista SP1 on DVD, which costs $3.50 for shipping and handling, customers may visit the SP1 order page.

Customers should know that the install program on the DVD does not include the same logic that Windows Update uses to check for device drivers prior to SP1 installation. To make this change, the installer would need to be substantially modified, which would take a significant amount of time. Additionally, one of the benefits of Windows Update is that it can dynamically add or remove filtered devices over time, as is necessary. If the DVD were to ship with the set of filters included, they could not be added or modified as the driver landscape changed over time.

We also want customers to know that if they have any problems during or after installing SP1, they can call Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) free of charge with questions or for help."

Note the emphasis added. Both options require connecting to the Internet before installing SP1.

I spoke with a Microsoft technician specializing in Windows Update. He informed me that there are two primary reasons why you might want to manually install SP1. I added reason three as my reason for a manual install.

1.. You cannot download SP1 from Windows Update or it will not install properly.
2.. During high demand times SP1 may not be available to some users for up to a week or possibly longer due to a limitation placed on the number of downloads.
3.. You want the security updates included in SP1 installed before connecting to the Internet.
The technical representative understood why I might want to install SP1 so that my system would be more secure before connecting to the Internet. He said it was possible to do this. However, SP1 does not include all the security patches since its release, even if you download it today. You will still have to start Windows Update to get these security updates.

In case you were wondering, SP1 installs 23 important security updates and 551 hot fixes, and some of those security updates are cumulative. If you want a closer look at the details, you can review Hotfixes and Security Updates Included in Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

The service packs for Vista are large - 434.5 MB for the 32-bit version and 726.5 MB for the 64-bit version. If you are still using dial-up you might be able to download the 32-bit version, but it would be easier to have a friend with broadband download the 64-bit version for you. Read the knowledge base article KB936330 carefully before installing the service pack.

I downloaded the Vista 64 bit SP1, and it took approximately 42 hours over four days. Oh the sacrifices I make for you, my patient reader! Use a download manager if you want to download the Vista service pack. I don't recommend you do this over dial-up. At $3.50, just order the SP1 CD or DVD.

During reinstallation
6. Load Windows.
Tip: When installing Vista in Windows, the installer takes over the entire screen. But you can still have access to Windows and features like Disk Manager by clicking on the [Windows] key. I have not had problems doing this when stuck and needed information or wanted to delete files on the target partition or format the target partition, but it might be dangerous to do while the installer is busy.

Don't forget to have your product key handy. If you have a RAID setup you will need to load the RAID drivers (be sure to get the right driver - 32 bit or 64 bit) and know the RAID controller name. For more information about installing Windows on a RAID system see Want Speed and Data Safety? Consider RAID. Rarely, you may have to have drivers for a device where Windows will be installed. As an example, some older motherboards require that you load SATA drivers in order to recognize SATA drives.

Perhaps the best way to reinstall Windows is the simple and straightforward "insert Windows disc into optical drive, format target partition and install to target partition" method. You should, if you can, start with a nice clean partition to install Windows on.

You can reinstall Vista from within your current Vista installation in addition to the traditional CD/DVD bootup install. If reinstalling from within Windows, connect to the Internet so the installer can check online for the latest installer updates.

You can replace your existing installation, even from within the existing installation, or you can load Windows onto a different partition that you prepared in item four. If you do reinstall Windows in a different partition, the original installation must be removed per the EULA. You cannot format the target partition if it is the same as the one with the current Windows installation.

Starting with Vista, the system boot files and boot manager are located in a folder called Boot. Gone is boot.ini, and replacing it is something called a Boot Configuration Data store(BCD). If you are running a dual-boot system the Boot folder may not be located on logical drive C:\. The boot files are system files and will be hidden unless you have unchecked Hide protected operating system files when configuring Explorer. If you want to load Windows onto a different logical drive, be careful that you do not delete the Boot folder when removing the original Windows installation. You also do not want to format the logical drive where the Boot folder is located.

Tip: Microsoft includes a comprehensive help file called Installing Windows. It is a good idea to read this before reinstalling Windows.

After reinstallation
7. Reconfigure personal settings.
I have a routine that I follow - one that I developed over the years. Personal settings are, well personal. I have a list of my personal settings that I like to make immediately upon Windows startup. I offer these changes as suggestions and not recommendations.

Read How to Personalize Windows Vista for a step-by-step how-to guide or click on the specific topic below:

a.. Gadgets
b.. Display resolution
c.. Desktop background
d.. Power settings
e.. Explorer settings
f.. Cookies handling
g.. Defrag schedule
h.. Indexing options
i.. Desktop shortcuts
For those of you who are Vista experts, you might notice that there is something conspicuously missing from my list. I do not recommend changing the default settings that leave User Account Control (UAC) turned on, but this is how to turn it off if you must.

If the Windows personalization aren't enough for you, there is a freeware version of TweakVI for Vista. You can easily spend the better part of a day going through all the tweaks available, and some of them are even useful. If you have kids and they have a computer, there are some tweaks that are useful for hiding administrative tools that you don't want them to access. Lo and behold, you can even get your Vista product key plus lots of other detailed information about your system.

You no doubt have a list of your own, many of which have long-since been forgotten that you suddenly remember after reloading Windows. You might want to keep a list of these personalized setting so that you will have it the next time you have to reinstall Windows.

8. Enable previous versions and create a "clean install" restore point.
You will need to enable Previous Versions if you are using this feature in Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise for a specific logical drive or folder. If you aren't using Previous Versions, you should be, especially if you are a programmer. For information about how to turn this feature on in Vista, see Previous Versions in Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise in the #2 Give examples section.

I always like to immediately create a restore point once Windows is installed and personalized. You can create a restore point in the same Window that Previous Versions is enabled.

Warning! If you are dual booting XP or Server 2003 and Vista or Server 2008, XP / Server 2003 will delete the Vista / Server 2008 restore points. If Previous Versions is enabled, the shadow copies of your files will also be gone. There is no simple solution for this. Be sure that Vista is installed properly before booting into XP in case you need to use a system restore point.

XP users with SP1 or greater and Server 2003 users need not feel left out. They have a similar feature called Shadow Copies.

9. Configure network, install service packs, patches, and security updates.
There are other security updates and patches that may be required. For example, I had a Micron Millenium PC that had an atapi.sys patch that had to be installed immediately after installing Windows.

Install all security updates, patches, and fixes before connecting to the Internet.

How you install SP1, your modem drivers, anti-virus, malware, firewall etc. (items 9.a - 9.e below) depends on which method you choose. Please use the instructions column of Table A to get the right order for the method you have chosen. If you skipped item 5, use the instructions for method one.

Table A - The Five Vista SP1 Installation Methods
Method
Instructions
Notes

Method One

Windows Update
9.a Install anti-virus, anti-virus definitions, malware

9.b Install modem drivers and set up network connection

9.c Run Windows Update

9.e Create Restore Point
The Windows Update installer will have to download files to update itself, and then it will have to restart.

Method Two

Firewall Application

Blocking

Windows Update
9.a Install anti-virus, anti-virus definitions, malware, and firewall9.b Install modem drivers and set up network connection

9.c Run Windows Update

9.e Create Restore Point
Comodo Firewall ProThe Windows Update installer will have to download files to update itself, and then it will have to restart.
Method Three

Windows Update

Manual Install
9.a Install anti-virus, anti-virus definitions, malware9.b Install modem drivers and set up network connection

9.c Run Windows Update

9.d Install SP1 manually

9.e Create Restore Point
The Windows Update installer will have to download files to update itself, and then it will have to restart.
Method Four

Manual Install

Windows

Update
9.d Install SP1 manually9.e Create Restore Point

9.a Install anti-virus, anti-virus definitions, malware

9.b Install modem drivers and set up network connection

9.c Run Windows Update

Method Five

(Stand-alone)

Manual Install
9.d Install SP1 manually9.e Create Restore Point

9.a Install anti-virus, malware, and firewall (optional)
Install your anti-virus, spyware, and adware. Restart the computer if prompted before connecting to the Internet. Don't forget to configure the anti-virus app to set the scan sensitivity. Set it to High or maximum for a thorough scan and set the real-time protection to High. If you have a file containing virus definitions, load these now.

If you have a third-party firewall you want to use instead of Windows Firewall, install it now.

9.b Setup and configure network connection.
Install your modem/network drivers. Create and configure your network connection(s).

9.c Run Window Update to scan for new drivers and updates.
Next, connect to the Internet and use Windows Update to scan for drivers and updates. Use Windows Server Update Services or the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) if available and if the computer is networked on a local Intranet. The discussion below is centered on those using Windows Update.

It had been so long since I started Windows Update manually that I had completely forgotten about its strange behavior. The Windows Update Window will show that it is looking for updates, and then it will close. It took me awhile to remember that although it appears that Windows Update has died a look at the notification icons on the taskbar shows that Windows Update is busy downloading updates (Figure B).

Figure B

Task Manager shows Windows Update process wuaudt.exe running.
When I ran Windows Update after installing SP1, there were 28 important updates (Figure C) and thirteen of those were security updates (Figure D). I asked if there was a way to get the security updates created after SP1 in a downloadable cumulative security update file and was told that they are available only via Windows Update.

Figure C

Windows Update Window shows 28 important updates, totaling 159.4 MB after manually installing Vista SP1.
Figure D

Clicking View Available Updates reveals the 28 important updates since the release of SP1 - already marked for update.
9.d Install SP1 manually (optional).
Install the service pack from either a disc or a file. A manual install of Vista SP1 (Figure E) requires about 7GB of free space for the 32-bit version and 13GB for the 64-bit version.

Figure E

These updates are installed after manually installing Vista SP1.
9.e Create a new Restore Point.
After SP1 is successfully loaded, I immediately create another restore point manually and call it Clean Install with SP1 or a similar identifiable name. I do this before installing any drivers and apps. I know I will be installing a lot of drivers and apps and some of those, like video card drivers and apps, may be problematic. If I begin to have problems after loading numerous apps and drivers, it is nice to be able to go back to the Clean Install with SP1 point and restart loading the apps and drivers.

Please read Remove All Remnants of the Windows Vista SP1 Installation by Greg Shultz for instructions about how you can recover disk space gobbled up by the SP1 installer.

10. Reload your drivers and apps.
One thing is almost certain now that Windows has been reinstalled - some of the generic drivers that Windows has installed are not optimal. If you are lucky enough to have an auto-update utility from your motherboard manufacturer, install the latest version that you downloaded earlier, connect to the Internet, and fire up the update app.

Do NOT update the BIOS. This option may be available in your motherboard update app and it may be called a BIOS update, but it is more commonly known as a BIOS flash. A BIOS flash is not a driver update. You also want to avoid any option labeled Update All.

Next, pull out your list of drivers requiring manual installation and install them now.

I keep my apps on a separate logical drive labeled Vista x64 Apps. It is a good idea to now go to the logical drive/folder where you keep your app files and wipe it clean. This is the fastest way to clean out the deadwood files that you will never use again. If you have all your apps on one logical drive and nothing else is stored there, it is best to format the logical drive before reloading your apps. Some programs like your newsreader usually store information like group messages on this logical drive. Export this information to your \Archive folder if you don't want to lose it before formatting the logical drive.

If you are running Intel's Matrix RAID, install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager.

It is finally time to reload all your applications. Take a peek at the desktop JPEG you created earlier or use a list of your core apps to determine what apps you want to install. Install to a fully formatted non-system logical drive.

There are two basic strategies when reloading your apps. You can reload the apps you use the most and load additional apps when needed or load a full list of apps up front. I prefer to load the core apps and load additional apps only when needed.

Take it from experience - it is not a good idea to load a lot of apps requiring a system restart and postpone the restart. Install a few at a time, restart the computer, and see if all is still well. If you do find a problem, you can return to the last known good restore point or uninstall the offending app. If you find no problems, consider manually creating a new restore point.

Don't forget to reload your e-mail messages, e-mail contacts, browser favorites, and other data that you exported earlier back into your newly reloaded apps.

The final word
Even a casual glance at this list reveals that loading Windows is the easy part of your reinstall project. The prep work and configuration will occupy most of your time; plan the actual date and time of the install accordingly.

There is one more final bit of housekeeping to do. If you reinstalled Windows in a folder with an existing installation of Windows, you should decide what to do with the Windows.old folder. You will not find this folder if there was insufficient space on your system partition during the Windows setup.

If you are reinstalling Vista, the Windows.old folder will be too large for a single-layer DVD but may fit on a dual-layer DVD. You can archive it to a backup drive, or if you have followed the steps carefully in this article and are satisfied that you have all your Windows-specific data, simply zap it into oblivion.

Congratulations! By completing the 10 steps outlined here, you have prepared your computer for years of maintenance-free service. You have also protected yourself from data loss due to a hard drive failure.

Kill Print Job Stuck in Queue

2009-02-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

Once a print job is stuck in queue, nothing will print. Usually, you can navigate to the printer via the Control Panel, select the printer and cancel the document. But occasionally, a job will just sit there and refuse to die. If this happens, you can run the follow script to free it.

Open notepad by going to Start, then Run and typing notepad and hit OK. Copy the following script:

net stop spooler
del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.shd
del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.spl
net start spooler

ext, save this document as C:\DeletePrintJobs.cmd

Once saved, navigate to Start, then Run and type or paste that filename in the run box.

This will run the script from the command line automatically and shut down when finished. You should notice that all print queues are cleared and you can now resume printing. If you can't print after running this script, reboot your computer.

Volume icon is not displayed in the notification area, and you receive an error message when you try to add it

2008-08-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS:
On a Windows XP-based computer, you may experience one or both of the following behaviors:

1)The Volume icon is no longer displayed in the notification area at the far right of the taskbar.

2)When you try to add the volume control icon to the notification area (in the Sounds and Audio Devices utility in Control Panel, click to select the Place volume icon in the taskbar check box on the Volume tab), you receive the following error message:
Windows cannot display the volume control on the taskbar because the Volume Control program has not been installed. To install it use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.

As a result, you cannot start the Volume Control program and adjust the volume and sound level settings of your computer.

CAUSE:

This behavior can occur if the Sndvol32.exe file is damaged or missing.

RESOLUTION:

To resolve this issue, extract a new copy of Sndvol32.exe from the Windows XP compact disc to the system_root\System32 folder on your computer's hard disk. To do this, follow these steps:

1)Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Press and hold down the SHIFT key as you insert the CD-ROM to prevent it from starting automatically.
2)Click Start, and then click Run.
3)In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
4)Type the following lines at the command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line, where CD-ROM drive is the drive letter of the computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD-ROM, and system_root is the path and folder name where the Windows system files are located (generally C:\Windows):
CD-ROM drive:
cd i386
expand sndvol32.ex_ system_root\system32\sndvol32.exe

Note that there is a space between "ex_" and "system_root" in this command.

For example, if your computer's CD-ROM drive is drive E, and the folder that contains the Windows system files is C:\Windows, type the following lines at the command prompt (pressing ENTER after each line):

e:
cd i386
expand sndvol32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\sndvol32.exe

5)Type exit to quit the command prompt.

6)Verify that you can start Volume Control and that the Volume icon is displayed in the notification area (if you selected this option).

Windows 2003 Network Lab

2008-08-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

If you're serious about attaining your MCSA or MCSE certification, you need hands-on experience with Windows Server 2003 software in a network environment. The MCSA/MCSE Windows Server 2003 Network Simulator from Sybex gives you everything you need to accomplish this, and more! Get the skills you need to approach the Windows 2003 exams with confidence by practicing on labs that cover key topics for exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 70-294. An affordable alternative to products and courses costing hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, this Simulator allows you to work at your own pace, on your own time, so you get the most out of your exam preparation efforts. Includes 160 lab exercises designed to sharpen the skills needed for the four core Windows 2003 exams:

* 70-290: Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment
* 70-291: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure
* 70-293: Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure* 70-294: Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure
Download
http://rapidshare.com/files/95885028/Windows_Server_2003_Network_Simulator.rar
Thanks to:kalil

How to stop Windows from asking you to restart after an update

2008-08-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

After successfully updating Windows, the operating system will almost always require a restart. This required restart is presented to you in the form of a dialog box that has no close button! This can be extremely annoying especially if you plan to restart at a later time

Luckily with a simple command we can disable this dialog box. Here's how:

*Click -> Run (This opens the Run dialog box)
*cmd and press Enter (This brings up the Command Prompt window)
* the command sc stop wuauserv

This command stops the service responsible for the popup that asks if you want to restart now or later.

A list of Useful Windows Commands and Tools

2008-08-09T20:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a very helpful list of Windows 2000/XP commands.

at (windows XP/2000)
Scheduling utility.

bootcfg (XP only)
This utility allows you to set up your boot options, such as your default OS and other loading options.

cacls (XP, 2000, & NT4.0)
Changes the ACLs (security Settings) of files and folders. Very similar to chmod in Linux.

comp (XP & 2000)
This utility is very similar to diff in Linux. Use the /? switch to get examples of command usage.

contig (works with NT4.0 and newer)
A great defrag utility for NTFS partitions.

control (XP only) - unpublished!
Allows you to launch control panel applets from the command line. control userpasswords2, for example will launch a helpful local user admin utility.

defrag (XP only - NT4.0 and Win2k use contig)
Yes, XP comes with a command line disk defrag utility. If you are running Win2k or NT4.0 there is still hope. Contig is a free defrag program that I describe on the defrag page.

diskpart (XP only)
Use this command to manage your disk partitions. This is the text version for the GUI Disk Manager.

driverquery (XP only)
Produces a list of drivers, their properties, and their versions. Great for computer documentation.

eudcedit(XP only) - unpublished!
Private Character editor. Yes with this program built into Windows XP you can create your own font!

findstr
Find String - similar to Linux's Grep.

fsutil (XP only) - unpublished!
This is a utility with a lot of capability. Come back soon for great examples.

getmac (XP & 2000)
This command gets the Media Access Control (MAC) address of your network cards.

gpresult (XP & 2000)
This generates a summary of the user settings and computer group policy settings.

gpupdate (XP only)
Use this utility to manually apply computer and user policy from your windows 2000 (or newer) domain.

ipconfig (XP, 2000 & NT4.0)
This handy tool displays IP settings of the current computer and much more.

mmc (XP, 2000 & NT4.0) - Microsoft Management Console
This is the master tool for Windows, it is the main interface in which all other tools use starting primarily in Windows 2000 and newer systems.

more
Utility used to display text output one screen at a time. Ex. more c:\windows\win.ini

msconfig (XP only)
The ultimate tool to change the services and utilities that start when your Windows machine boots up. You can also copy the executable from XP and use it in Win2k.

msinfo32 (XP &smp; 2000)
An awesome diagnostic tool. With it you can get a list of running processes, including the residing path of the executable (great for manually removing malware) and get detailed information about hardware and system diagnostics.

narrator (XP only)
Turns on the system narrator (can also be found in accessibility options in control panel). Will will allow your computer to dictate text to you.

netsh (XP & 2000)
A network configuration tool console. At the 'netsh>' prompt, use the '?' to list the available commands and type "exit" to get back to a command prompt.

netstat (XP)
A local network port tool - try netstat -ano.

nslookup (all)
A DNS name resolution tool.

openfiles (XP Only)
Allows an administrator to display or disconnect open files in XP professional. Type "openfiles /?" for a list of possible parameters.

pathping (XP & 2000)
A cross between the ping and traceroute utilities. Who needs Neotrace when you can use this? Type "pathping " and watch it go.

recover (XP & 2000)
This command can recover readable information from a damaged disk and is very easy to use.

reg (XP & 2000)
A console registry tool, great for scripting Registry edits.

sc (XP & 2000)
A command line utility called the Service Controller. A power tool to make service changes via a logon/logoff or startup/shutdown script.

schtasks (XP only)
A newer version of the AT command. This allows an administrator to schedule and manage scheduled tasks on a local and remote machines.

secedit (XP & 2000)
Use this utility to manually apply computer and user policy from your windows 2000 (or newer) domain. Example to update the machine policy: secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce
To view help on this, just type secedit.
NOTE: In Windows XP SP1 and news, this command is superceded by: gpupdate /force

sfc (XP & 2000)
The system file checker scans important system files and replaces the ones you (or your applications) hacked beyond repair with the real, official Microsoft versions.

shutdown (XP & 2000)
With this tool, You can shut down or restart your own computer, or an administrator can shut down or restart a remote computer.

sigverif (XP only)
Microsoft has created driver signatures. A signed driver is Microsoft tested and approved. With the sigverif tool you can have all driver files analyzed to verify that they are digitally signed. Just type 'sigverif' at the command prompt.

systeminfo (XP only)
Basic system configuration information, such as the system type, the processor type, time zone, virtual memory settings, system uptime, and much more. This program is great for creating an inventory of computers on your network.

sysedit (XP/2000)
System Configuration File Editor. An old tool that was very handy for the Windows 9X days. msconfig is what you want to use now.

tasklist (XP pro only)
Tasklist is the command console equivalent to the task manager in windows. It is a must have when fighting scumware and viruses. Try the command:
tasklist /svc
to view the memory resources your services take up.

taskkill (XP only)
Taskkill contains the rest of the task manager functionality. It allows you to kill those unneeded or locked up applications.

tree (XP & 2000)
An amazing experience everyone should try! This command will provide a 'family tree' style display of the drive/folder you specify.

WMIC (XP & 2000)
Windows Management Instrumentation Command tool. This allows you to pull an amazing amount of low-level system information from a command line scripting interface.

How to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk in Windows Vista

2008-08-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dynamic disks allow for better administration. You can span a volume across multiple dynamic disks or stripe multiple dynamic disks. Dynamic disks also allow you to repair data without the need for restarting the computer.

Note:
* Only Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate editions support dynamic disks.
* Disks on laptop computers cannot be converted to dynamic.

You can enable dynamic disks on a drive by performing the following steps.

- Click Start button, right-click Computer, and click Manage.

- Expand the plus sign next to Storage under Computer Management.

- Click Disk Management.

- Right-click the disk you wish to convert, and the click Convert to Dynamic Disk...

How to list all shared drives and folders from the command line in Windows XP, Vista, 2003

2008-08-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Use this quick and very simple way to list all your shared drives and folders using the command line. This works on Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008 across all versions. Here's how you do it:

- Click Start -> Run

-Type cmd and press Enter (This launches the command prompt)

- Type the following code in the command prompt window:

wmic share get caption,name,path

ExchangeServer 2003 Training Videos

2008-06-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Password Tips & Security

2008-06-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Why are passwords important?
Believe it or not, there are lots of people out in the world who try to guess or "crack" passwords in order to snoop around. We have an obligation to protect information stored on our computer systems from unauthorized access. The kind of access people have to computers in public institutions like NYU provides many opportunities for password cracking. Creating "good" passwords and keeping them private are important elements of computer security. This means making "good" passwords that are difficult or impossible to guess or be discovered – even by individuals who with mischievous or criminal intent try to guess or "crack" password in order to gain access to computer accounts or systems.

How can I create a good password?

When activating your NetID and setting or changing your password , please take into account the following password guidelines

1. passwords must be 6 or more characters in length

2. must consist of letters (a-z and/or A-Z) AND at least one number (0-9) AND at least one special character: !@#$%^&*()_-+=[]|\; "~',<>./?

3. the alphabetic portion of a password, taken as a whole, may not be a dictionary word proper name, or person's initials

4. you may not reuse a password that you've previously used with NYUHome

Examples of Good Passwords
1. You can use a phrase to generate a password:

o Take the phrase "I Love To Eat Hotdogs Everyday".

o Use the first letters: iltehe

o Apply capitalization and substitute punctuation/ numbers for letters: Il2e!E

2. You can also use a common word as a seed for a password:

o By itself, "hotdog" makes a horrible password, but if you apply some of the tricks above (capitalization, punctuation, and misspellings) the result is a much better password: H0t!daWg.

o You can also use a word but substitute numbers for some of the letters, and insert a special character in a way that you'll remember. For example, by replacing the vowels with the number 7 in the word "Spiderman," then inserting a backslash between the syllables, the password could be "Sp7d7r/m7n" .

Know what makes for a bad password.

Because the attacks described above are becoming increasingly more common, you don't want to use anything in your password that's personal and easy to guess. Keep in mind the following don'ts:

• Don't use only letters or only numbers.

• Don't use names of spouses, children, girlfriends/ boyfriends or pets.

• Don't use phone numbers, Social Security numbers or birthdates.

• Don't use the same word as your log-in, or any variation of it.

• Don't use any word that can be found in the dictionary — even foreign words.

• Don't use passwords with double letters or numbers

Valid Passwords

These are the requirements for a valid password:

1.A password must contain at least six characters. Only the first eight are used, so there isn't any point to having a longer password.

2. It must contain at least two alphabetic characters (lower or upper case) and one numeric or "special" character.

3.It cannot be your login name or any "scrambled" combination of it.

4.A valid password may not contain any of the following "special characters": a pound sign ("#"), an at ("@") symbol, a pipe ("|") or a wildcard ("*" or "?") character.

5.Finally, it must differ from your old password by at least three characters.

Change your password often — as in several times a year .

Your network administrator can force your employees to change their password every so often. By default, passwords are set to expire every 42 days in Windows Server 2003. Microsoft recommends having users change their passwords every 30 to 90 days, but encourages you to go with the smaller number. I think 30 days is a reasonable number here. You always want to side with caution when it comes to sensitive information.

What should I avoid when creating a password?

· Do not use your user name, first name, or last name.
Your name and user name are stored in the password file and many cracking programs use this information to generate possible password combinations.

· Do not use anyone's first name or last name.
Many password-cracking programs have large name databases and can easily guess passwords based on names. Names of friends, relatives, fictional characters, etc. are commonly associated with an individual and do not make good passwords.

· Passwords that use patterns on the keyboard (i.e., qwerty) are not secure.
Although such passwords are easily typed, they are also easily guessed.

· Words spelled backwards don't make secure passwords.
Most cracking programs try both the forward and backward representation of words in their databases, and therefore passwords of such nature are not secure.

· Substituting 1's and 0's for l's and o's is not enough to make a good password.
Password cracking programs have rule sets designed to break passwords that substitute numbers for letters they resemble. Similarly, passwords such as 2Good4U, although cute, are not really secure either.

· Do not simply use a word followed or preceded by a number as a password. A common password-guessing algorithm adds numbers to the front or back of a dictionary word, Passwords of this form are therefore easily cracked. Non-alphabetic characters should be used throughout the password.

· Do not use dictionary, or dictionary-based words as passwords.
Password cracking programs have large dictionaries that they use to guess passwords. Cracking programs also have large FOREIGN LANGUAGE dictionaries, therefore, the practice of using foreign words as passwords is INSECURE.

· Your password should NOT be all numbers, uppercase letters or lowercase letters, nor should it have repeating characters.

· Never use a password that has been cited as an example of how to pick a good password.

Password & Account Security

Can I tell others what my password is?
No. Don't tell anyone your password, not even if they claim to be a system administrator. Sharing passwords is a violation of NYU policy. There are good reasons you should not share your password. If someone to whom you had provided your password were to use your account in an inappropriate manner, you could be held responsible for their actions.

Why can't I share my NetID and password with a trusted colleague?
Letting another person use your NetID, no matter how much you trust that person, violates data security. Each NetID is assigned to a specific individual who must accept full responsibility for any work done on that NetID. Each of your colleagues must use his or her own NetID, or apply for one.Note: If you are involved in the hiring of new staff, you should request a NetID ahead of time so that it will be ready for use when needed.

To ensure that your office has access to your files and data for business continuity purposes, your department can use a shared file server, or have an departmental IT staff member set up an alternate account on your computer.

Is it safe to send my login/password through email?
No. You should never include your password in an email message. There are programs out there that have the ability to spy on traffic sent over the internet. If you send out a message with your password in it, there is a possibility that it could be intercepted and then your account would be compromised.

Besides, you're not supposed to be sharing it with anyone anyway, so the need to send it through email would never arise, right?

Run Commands

2008-06-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

To Access…. Run Command.

Accessibility Controls
access.cpl

Add Hardware Wizard
hdwwiz.cpl

Add/Remove Programs
appwiz.cpl

Administrative Tools
control.exe admintools

Automatic Updates
wuaucpl.cpl

Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
fsquirt

Calculator
calc

Certificate Manager
certmgr.msc

Character Map
charmap

Check Disk Utility
chkdsk

Clipboard Viewer
clipbrd

Command Prompt
cmd

Component Services
dcomcnfg

Computer Management
compmgmt.msc

Date and Time Properties
timedate.cpl

DDE Shares
ddeshare

Device Manager
devmgmt.msc

Direct X Control Panel (if installed)*
directx.cpl

Direct X Troubleshooter
dxdiag

Disk Cleanup Utility
cleanmgr

Disk Defragment
dfrg.msc

Disk Management
diskmgmt.msc

Disk Partition Manager
diskpart

Display Properties
control.exe desktop

Display Properties
desk.cpl

Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)
control.exe color

Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility
drwtsn32

Driver Verifier Utility
verifier

Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc

File Signature Verification Tool
sigverif

Findfast
findfast.cpl

Folders Properties
control.exe folders

Fonts
control.exe fonts

Fonts Folder
fonts

Free Cell Card Game
freecell

Game Controllers
joy.cpl

Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)
gpedit.msc

Hearts Card Game
mshearts

Iexpress Wizard
iexpress

Indexing Service
ciadv.msc

Internet Properties
inetcpl.cpl

Java Control Panel (if installed)
jpicpl32.cpl

Java Control Panel (if installed)
javaws

Keyboard Properties
control.exe keyboard

Local Security Settings
secpol.msc

Local Users and Groups
lusrmgr.msc

Logs You Out Of W*NDOW$
logoff

Mcft Chat
winchat

Minesweeper Game
winmine

Mouse Properties
control.exe mouse

Mouse Properties
main.cpl

Network Connections
control.exe netconnections

Network Connections
ncpa.cpl

Network Setup Wizard
netsetup.cpl

Nview Desktop Manager (if installed)
nvtuicpl.cpl

Object Packager
packager

ODBC Data Source Administrator
odbccp32.cpl

On Screen Keyboard
osk

Opens AC3 Filter (if installed)
ac3filter.cpl

Password Properties
password.cpl

Performance Monitor
perfmon.msc

Performance Monitor
perfmon

Phone and Modem Options
telephon.cpl

Power Configuration
powercfg.cpl

Printers and Faxes
control.exe printers

Printers Folder
printers

Private Character Editor
eudcedit

Quicktime (If Installed)
QuickTime.cpl

Regional Settings
intl.cpl

Registry Editor
regedit

Registry Editor
regedit32

Removable Storage
ntmsmgr.msc

Removable Storage Operator Requests
ntmsoprq.msc

Resultant Set of Policy
rsop.msc

Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)
rsop.msc

Scanners and Cameras
sticpl.cpl

Scheduled Tasks
control.exe schedtasks

Security Center
wscui.cpl

Services
services.msc

Shared Folders
fsmgmt.msc

Shuts Down W*NDOW$
shutdown

Sounds and Audio
mmsys.cpl

Spider Solitare Card Game
spider

SQL Client Configuration
cliconfg

System Configuration Editor
sysedit

System Configuration Utility
msconfig

System File Checker Utility
sfc

System Properties
sysdm.cpl

Task Manager
taskmgr

Telnet Client
telnet

User Account Management
nusrmgr.cpl

Utility Manager
utilman

W*NDOW$ Firewall
firewall.cpl

W*NDOW$ Magnifier
magnify

W*NDOW$ Management Infrastructure
wmimgmt.msc

W*NDOW$ System Security Tool
syskey

W*NDOW$ Update Launches
wupdmgr

W*NDOW$ XP Tour Wizard
tourstart

Panda Antivirus V2008

2008-06-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

The new Panda Antivirus 2008 is the easiest-to-use protection
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Hazzard

How to Install Internet Explorer 7.0 Bypassing Genuine Windows Validation?

2008-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Internet Explorer 7.0 is the long awaited tabbed web browser by Microsoft. Nearly four years after the release of Internet Explorer 6.0, in the face of growing competition from Mozilla's Firefox, Microsoft has finally given the old IE platform a facelift. Optimized design along with new cool interface, favorites centre, search box, RSS feeds and most importantly easy to use tabbed browsing are the exclusive features of this new internet explorer.

You must have Windows XP Service Pack-2 (SP2) in order to install Internet Explorer 7.0. But still you will face a problem while installing this new Internet Explorer if your copy of Windows XP is not a genuine (non-pirated) one, since IE 7.0 installation requires genuine windows validation!!! So what to do??? Don’t worry… There are some tricky steps through which you can install IE 7.0 even in your pirated copy of windows XP bypassing the genuine windows validation. You just have to follow the following steps one by one:

1. Download Internet Explorer 7.0 installer from the Microsoft site. You have to choose Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) as your operating system. Remember you can’t install IE 7.0 if service pack 2.0 is not installed in your operating system. And if you are facing genuine windows validation problem while downloading IE7 installer from the Microsoft site, can also download this installer alternatively from here or directly from here.

2. Download WinRAR and then install it if you don't have! Extract the downloaded Internet Explorer setup file (IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe) using WinRAR to a directory (IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu).

3.There will be a folder named 'update' inside the extracted IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu folder.
Now download the patched iecustom.dll and then copy-paste it inside the update folder (IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu\update\) and click yes when asked to overwrite.

4.Now, download normaliz.exe . Then copy this exe file and paste it in your “c:\” drive.

5.Run ‘update.exe’ inside the update folder inside the extracted IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu folder. (not iesetup.exe!).

At the end, you have to choose ‘Restart Later’ (not Restart Now) option to finish the running process of the exe file.
6.Now you have to download normaliz.dll and then you have to copy-paste the downloaded normaliz.dll to the “c:\windows\system32\” directory (in order to prevent problems with the file not being found after the installation). And then reboot/restart your pc.
7. After rebooting your pc, you may face a problem with a file called normaliz.dll that can not be found by explorer.exe. If you’re having this problem, you will find your desktop blank.(If you are not facing this problem then just go to step 8) In order to fix this problem, you have to do the following things one by one:

[1]Press ctrl-alt-del to go to the task manager.
[2]Go to “File -> New Task (Run…)” in the task manager.
[3]Type: ‘C:\normaliz.exe’ (excluding quotation marks) in the ‘open’ field and then press the ‘ok’ button.

[4] ‘WinZip Self-Extractor - normalize.exe’ window should popped up and then press the ‘unzip’ button.

[5] Reboot your pc and yahoo!!! now you can see your desktop contents.

8.Now you have to run ‘xmllitesetup.exe’ in the update folder. This step is very important, because somehow if you forget to run this ‘xmllitesetup.exe’ , IE 7.0 will be installed in your PC without it's toolbar!

9.Then reboot your pc again, run Internet Explorer…and you are done!

How To Reinstall or Repair Windows XP Without Formatting Your Data

2008-06-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

What does reinstall Windows really mean? What about reformat computer? Some people also say fresh or clean Windows installation. To me, I think that reinstall Windows means reinstall Windows over the existing Windows without formatting the hard drive. As for reformat computer, it means wipe off everything on the partition or hard drive and install a fresh Windows. As for fresh or clean Windows installation, it might mean installing Windows on ANOTHER partition without affecting the current installed Windows.

I seldom use the term "reinstall windows" because some people might think that they have to reformat their hard drive and reinstall Windows. The better term that I always use is "Repair Windows". Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information or settings. It just repairs the operating system.

Windows XP repair feature is a great feature but I ONLY use it when the operating system files are way too corrupted to fix. In another words, this is my last resort before reformatting the hard drive and doing a fresh windows installation. Here is how to reinstall or repair Windows XP.

Before you start repairing your Windows XP, please be informed that it will remove any updates you have previously installed and drivers will be reverted back to the original XP versions. Some Windows XP settings might be also be reset to their defaults. So make sure you have your drivers ready and also run Windows Update once it has completed repairing Windows XP. Oh and remember to backup your important files because you might never know what will go wrong during the process.

1. First step is to boot up the computer with the Windows XP CD. You can configure that in BIOS.

2. You will get a message "Press any key to boot from CD" on your screen. Simply hit any key on your keyboard to boot from Windows XP CD.

3. A blue screen will appear and begin loading Windows XP Setup from the CD.

4. When completed loading files, you will be presented with the following "Windows Setup" screen. You will want to select "To set up Windows XP now, press Enter." option. Just press the ENTER key to continue. Remember, do NOT press the "R" key because that option will bring you to recovery console.

5. Next screen is to agree with Windows XP licensing agreement. Press F8 key to agree and continue.

6. Windows setup will now look for existing Windows XP installations. If it finds any, you will be asked to repair an existing XP installation, or install a fresh copy of Windows XP. Press the "R" key to start repairing Windows XP. Otherwise press "Esc" key for installing a fresh copy of Windows XP.

Now you just have to wait for it to reinstall Windows XP over the existing Windows XP. Get your Windows XP product key ready because you will need key it in again. Remember to run Windows Update once the repair has completed!

For branded computers such as HP, there are 2 CDs. One is the Recovery CD and the other is the Operating System CD. To repair Windows, you need to boot up the Operating System CD first, then it will ask you to put in the Recovery CD for verification. Once you've loaded the Recovery CD and verified, you will need to put back the Operating System CD. Now it will start the Windows XP repair process...

There are people that encountered problems in using Automatic Updates after repairing Windows. To solve this problem, you need to manually visit Windows Update or Microsoft Update site, download and install at least one security update or Service Pack, and it will solve the problem.

Trainsignal Intro to windows Server 2008

2008-06-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Installing Windows Server 2008 and Active Directory

Server Edition Check
Installation Procedure
Initial Configuration of Windows Server 2008
Adding Active Directory to Windows Server 2008
Promotion of a Windows 2008 server to a Domain Controller

Active Directory Users and Groups in Windows Server 2008

Active Directory Review - What's New in 2008
Windows Server 2008 - Server Manager
Active Directory Auditing
Renaming the Administrator Account
Creating Users
Creating Groups
Adding Users to Groups
Event Viewer in Server 2008

Windows Server Core and DHCP Servers

What is Server Core?
What can Server Core do? Server Core Roles
How to Set the Admin Password in Server Core
Rename the Computer in Server CoreJoin a Domain in Server Core
DHCP Role Installation
Critical Commands to know for Server Core
Set Up the Windows Firewall on Server 2008
Install RSAT
Create an MMC to Connect to Windows Server Core

Windows Server 2008 File and Print Servers

What's New with File and Print Server
Install File Server Roles in Windows Server 2008
Create a NamespaceSetup Up Replication (DFS)
Add a Print Server to Windows Server 2008
Add a Network PrinterPrint Management Console
Deployed Printers

Windows Server 2008 Read Only Domain Controllers

What's a Read Only Domain Controller (RODC)
Advantages of Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC)
Steps to Deploy a Read Only Domain Controller (RODC)
RODC Role Installation
Password Replication
Pre-Populate a Password

IIS 7 Web Servers

New Features in IIS 7
Modularization
Role Installation
Selection of Modules
IIS Manager
Speed Up Your Index Page Load
Where to Put Your Files
Browse Your Site
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services
Terminal Services New Features
Remote Application
Installing a Terminal Server
Configuring RemoteApp

Windows Deployment Services

Quick Intro to Imaging
Windows Deployment Services (WDS) Configuration
Procedure
Installation of Windows Deployment Services (WDS) Role
Image Locations
Boot Image Import
Create Capture Boot Image
Create an Image Group
Add Install Images
Capture an Image
Deploy from Windows Deployment Services (WDS)

Windows Server 2008 MCITP Certification Info

Certifications
Upgrade Certifications
Features in Extended Server 2008

CODE
http://rapidshare.com/files/103760626/tswin2k8.7z.001
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http://rapidshare.com/files/103765907/tswin2k8.7z.008
http://rapidshare.com/files/103766282/tswin2k8.7z.009

pass: braindropz

Trainsignal Exchange server 2007

2008-06-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Build your own email infrastructure

* Learn Exchange Server 2007 by watching it Configured on a Live Network

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* Taught by a Microsoft MVP with an MCSE and over 10 years of real world experience

* Discover how to Develop Secure, Efficient Systems and how to Integrate OWA

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* Master all the new features that come with Exchange Server 2007

* The Most Effective Way to Learn Exchange Server 2007...See Why!

* Prepare for MCSE Certification MCSE Training Information

CD1

CODE
http://rapidshare.com/files/116761123/Party2.part1.rar
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Pass: Grab&Go

CD2

CODE
http://rapidshare.com/files/116991984/Party2-2.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116991996/Party2-2.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116992029/Party2-2.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116991689/Party2-2.part4.rar

Pass: Grab&Go

10 Differences between Windows(R) XP and Vista(tm)

2008-04-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

1. Windows Vista Images Are Bigger
With Windows XP and Windows 2000, it was possible to create images that would fit easily on a single CD (less than 700MB). Even organizations that added applications, drivers, and utilities to their image typically ended up with an operating system image in the 1GB to 3GB range.

With Windows Vista, image size begins at about 2GB--compressed. Once this image is deployed, the size is often around 5GB or more, and there's no way to reduce it. If you add additional applications, drivers, or other files, this image obviously grows even larger.

So how will you deploy the image? Does your network have the necessary capacity? (10MB networks or non-switched networks are not sufficient.) If you want to use CDs, how many can you deal with? You'll need three or four. DVDs (with a capacity of 4.7GB each) are now easy to create, so you can deploy using DVD drives if you have them. (If not, consider adding DVD drives when buying the next round of PCs.)

With USB memory keys growing in size (as large as 4GB or more) and shrinking in price, it would be quite easy to use one for deploying Windows Vista, since you can make a bootable key as long as the computer's BIOS supports it.

Finally (though this doesn't relate to image size), take note that there is no longer an I386 directory. Instead, all components, whether installed or not, reside in the Windows directory (although not in the standard SYSTEM32 directory). When installing a new component, the necessary files will be pulled from this location.

2. Security Is Enhanced
A number of Windows Vista security enhancements will impact deployment. For example, configuring Windows Vista to support "low rights" users, where the logged-on user does not have administrator rights, is easier. Some applications failed to work on Windows XP when users did not have administrator access because they assumed they would have full access to the C: drive and all parts of the registry. With Windows Vista, applications that attempt to write to restricted areas will have those writes transparently redirected to other locations in the user's profile.

The second big change here is that non-administrators can load drivers. This lets users attach new devices without needing to call the help desk in tears.
The third difference you'll find is that Internet Explorer(R) can automatically install ActiveX(R) controls using elevated rights. A new service can perform these installations on the user's behalf (if, of course, the IT administrator allows this via Group Policy).

Some of you may currently be using Power User rights on Windows XP, but this really does not offer many benefits (in terms of restricting user rights) over simply granting full Administrator privileges. Because of this, the Power Users group in Windows Vista has been removed, although it can be put back if required using a separate security template that can be applied to an installation of Windows Vista.

Sometimes you will need administrator rights, but this doesn't mean you want to run with admin rights all the time. So Windows Vista adds User Access Control (UAC), which causes most user applications--even for Administrators--to run with restricted rights. For applications that require additional rights, UAC will prompt for permission, asking either for permission to run with elevated privileges or for other user credentials that can replace the logged-on users.

There are also enhancements to the firewall built into Windows Vista. The new firewall can now control both inbound and outbound traffic, while still being fully configurable via Group Policy.

Finally, BitLocker(tm) full-volume encryption, which is included with Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate, allows the entire operating system volume to be encrypted. The volume can then be read only from within Windows Vista and only when the right keys are provided, either from the computer's built-in Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip, a USB key, or typed into the keyboard. (Note that only TPM 1.2 or later is supported.)

3. Windows Vista Is Componentized
One of the biggest architectural changes in Windows Vista is that it is now a completely componentized operating system. This affects deployment in the following ways.
Configuring which Windows Vista features should be installed requires configuring the components to be enabled. New tools, like the Windows System Image Manager, shown in Figure 1, assist with this.
Security updates, language packs, and service packs are simply components. Tools such as Package Manager (PKGMGR) can be used to apply these to Windows Vista.
In addition, all servicing can be performed offline or online. You can even apply changes to Windows Vista or a Windows Vista image when Windows Vista is not currently running. This is ideal for deployments: the operating system can be patched before it boots onto your network for the first time.
Drivers are also treated as components, so they can be added and removed easily--even offline. This means you can add drivers to existing images, even just-in-time (as the machine boots for the first time) during the deployment process. And this applies to mass-storage drivers as well; no longer do you need to create a new image just to add a new mass storage driver.
Windows Vista exposes more settings, with most components providing configurable options, so it's easier to set installation defaults that can be managed on an ongoing basis using Group Policy. For a rundown of new tools in Windows Vista, see the sidebar "Tools You Need; Tools to Forget.
Tools You Need; Tools to Forget
Here's a rundown of the tools you'll be using when you roll out Windows Vista, followed by a list of the tools you can retire for good once Windows Vista arrives.
USE THESE:
SYSPREP This is the updated version, modified for Windows Vista. SETUP A new installation tool for Windows Vista, replaces WINNT and WINNT32. IMAGEX The new command-line tool for creating WIM images. Windows System Image Manager A tool for creating and modifying unattend.xml files. PEIMG The tool for customizing Windows PE 2.0 images. Windows Deployment Services The new version of RIS, which adds the ability to deploy Windows Vista and Windows XP images, as well as Windows PE 2.0 boot images. PNPUTIL This is the new tool for adding and removing drivers from the Windows Vista driver store. PKGMGR Also new, this Windows Vista tool is used for servicing the operating system. OCSETUP This replaces SYSOCMGR and is used for installing Windows components. BCDEDIT A new Windows Vista tool for editing boot configuration data. Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 This updated tool lets you assess whether your applications are compatible with Windows Vista. User State Migration Tool 3.0 An updated tool for capturing and restoring user state, supports Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as all versions of Office including 2007. BitLocker The full-volume drive encryption capability included in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions.
FORGET THESE:
Remote Installation Services RIS has been replaced by Windows Deployment Services (WDS) but still offers legacy support on Windows Server 2003; RIPREP and RISETUP are not possible with Windows Vista. Setup Manager/Notepad Use Windows System Image Manager instead for editing unattended setup configuration files. WINNT.EXE and WINNT32.EXE Use SETUP instead. SYSOCMGR Replaced by OCSETUP, PKGMGR. MS-DOS Boot Floppies Forget them. Use Windows PE!
4. Text-Mode Installation Is Gone
The basic process used to install Windows XP has been unchanged since the earliest days of Windows NT(R). This time-consuming procedure involved an initial text-mode installation step in which every operating system file was decompressed and installed, all registry entries were created, and all security was applied. Now with Windows Vista, this text-mode installation phase is completely gone. Instead, a new setup program performs the installation, applying a Windows Vista image to a computer.
Once this image is applied, it needs to be customized for the computer. This customization takes the place of what was called mini- setup in Windows XP and Windows 2000. The purpose is the same: the operating system picks the necessary settings and personality for the specific computer it was deployed to.
The image preparation process has also changed. With Windows XP, you would "Sysprep" a machine to prepare the reference operating system for deployment. With Windows Vista, you'll still run Sysprep.exe (installed by default in C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep), which will "generalize" the machine for duplication.
Windows Vista (any version) is provided on the DVD as an already- installed, generalized (Sysprepped) image, ready to deploy to any machine. Some customers may choose to deploy this image as-is (possibly injecting fixes or drivers using the servicing capabilities described earlier).
5. Boot.ini Is History
That's right, the Boot.ini file is not used in Windows Vista or in the new Windows PE 2.0. Instead, a new boot loader, bootmgr, reads boot configuration data from a special file named BCD. A brand new tool called bcdedit.exe (or a separate Windows Management Instrumentation or WMI provider) is used to maintain the contents of the BCD. A Windows PE 2.0 boot image can be configured in BCD too, making it easy to boot into either Windows Vista or Windows PE without making any other changes to the machine. This flexibility can be useful in recovery or maintenance scenarios
6. Settings Are Configured in XML
With Windows XP (and previous versions of Windows PE) configuration information was stored in various text files. These text files have been replaced with an XML file.
Unattend.txt, which was used to configure how Windows XP is installed, has been replaced by unattend.xml. Unattend.xml also replaces three other files:
Sysprep.inf, which was used to configure how a Windows XP image is customized when deployed to a machine using a mini-setup. Wimbom.ini, which was used to configure Windows PE. Cmdlines.txt, which was used to specify a list of commands to execute during mini-setup. An example of unattend.xml can be downloaded from TechNet Magazine at microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/code06.aspx.
You may still use separate files if you want, though. You don't need to put all configuration items in a single unattend.xml file. The high- level schema of the new XML configuration file is well defined, with each phase of the deployment process represented. The actual configuration items are specified on the appropriate operating system components and these items are dynamically discovered from the components themselves.
With Windows XP, most IT professionals used Notepad to edit the various configuration files. You can still do that, but the Windows System Image Manager tool I discussed earlier can be used to inspect the Windows Vista image, determine what settings are available, and allow you to configure each one.
Another tool to aid deployment is the User State Migration Tool (USMT) 3.0, which is expected to be released at the same time as Windows Vista. It will also use XML configuration files in place of the .inf files that were used in previous versions.
7. No More HAL Complications
With Windows XP, technical restrictions prevented the creation of a single image that could be deployed to all computers. Different hardware abstraction layers (HALs) meant you had to maintain multiple images. (For more on this see the Knowledge Base article "HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup") Most organizations needed two or three images per platform (x86 and x64) and some chose to have even more--though each image brings added costs and complexity.
In Windows Vista, those technical restrictions are gone; the operating system is able to detect which HAL is required and automatically install it.
8. Windows PE Rules
Windows PE 2.0, the new version that will be released with Windows Vista, is a key part of the deployment process. Even the standard DVD- based installation of Windows Vista uses Windows PE 2.0, and most organizations will be using it (often customized for the organization's specific needs) as part of their deployment processes.
Compared to MS-DOS(R)-based deployment, Windows PE 2.0 brings numerous benefits, including less time spent trying to find 16-bit real-mode drivers. (It's not even possible to find these any more for some newer network cards and mass storage adapters.) Better performance from 32- bit and 64-bit networking stacks and tools, as well as large memory support are also advantages. And don't forget support for tools such as Windows Scripting Host, VBScript, and hypertext applications.
Windows PE has been available for a few years (the latest version, Windows PE 2005, was released at the same time as Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1), but not all organizations could use it; it required that you have Software Assurance on your Windows desktop operating system licenses. With Windows PE 2.0, that's no longer the case. All organizations will be able to download Windows PE 2.0 from microsoft.com and use it freely for the purposes of deploying licensed copies of Windows Vista.
Like Windows Vista itself, Windows PE 2.0 is provided as an image that is componentized and can be serviced both online and off. As with Windows PE 2005, several optional components can be added, although Windows PE 2.0 includes some new ones: MSXML 3.0, Windows Recovery Environment, language packs, font packs, and so on. New tools like peimg.exe are provided for servicing Windows PE 2.0. Peimg.exe can also be used for adding drivers--including mass storage devices, which no longer require any special handling.
9. It's All about Images
With Windows XP, some companies used the image creation capabilities of the Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack or third-party image creation tools. There was no generic image creation tool available from Microsoft. That's changed with Windows Vista: new tools have been created to support the Windows Imaging (WIM) file format. Unlike many other image formats, WIM images are file-based, enabling them to be applied to an existing partition non- destructively. This has great advantages in deployment processes, since user state can be saved locally instead of on a network server, eliminating what is frequently the largest source of network traffic during a deployment.
Because WIM files are file-based images, they (obviously) are not sector-based, so there are no issues around different-sized disks or partitions. A WIM image contains only the contents of a single disk volume or partition, so if you have multiple partitions to capture, you create a separate image for each one. But each of these images can be stored in the same WIM file, since the WIM file format supports multiple images per file.
The WIM file format also supports single-instance storage, so duplicate files (even from different images) are automatically removed. Between this and the advanced compression techniques employed, WIM images are typically smaller than images created by other tools. However, because of the extra processing, they do take longer to create. This size versus performance trade-off is fair enough; since you typically capture the image only once and then deploy it many times, the network traffic savings can be substantial.
10. Deployment Is Language-Neutral
Windows XP supported different languages in two ways. You could either deploy localized versions of Windows XP, requiring a different image for each language, or you could deploy an English Multilanguage User Interface (MUI) version with added language packs. There were advantages and disadvantages to each approach, but in most cases organizations that needed to support multiple languages took the MUI route, dealing with the limitations of running with an operating system that was effectively English at its core. Organizations that worked only with one language typically chose to use only the localized versions.
Now with Windows Vista, the entire operating system is language- neutral. One or more language packs are added to this language-neutral core to create the image that is deployed (although only some versions of Windows Vista support multiple languages).
Servicing of Windows Vista is also language-neutral, so in many cases only one security update is needed for all languages. And configuration is language-neutral, so one unattend.xml can be used for all languages

Difference b/w remote desktop and terminal server

2008-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Terminal Services is a component of Microsoft Windows operating systems (both client and server versions) that allows a user to access applications or data stored on a remote computer over a network connection. Terminal Services is Microsoft's take on server centric computing, which allows individual users to acces network resources easily.

Remote desktop is working with the help of Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a multi-channel protocol that allows a user to connect to a computer running Microsoft Terminal Services. The server listens by default on TCP port 3389. Terminal service is client server environment where one computer acting as a terminal server which will serve the requests from the TS clients. This can be two modes one is Application Server mode, the other is Remote Administration mode. The former is used to access the applications on the server which requires licence and the later is used to remote administration which does not require licence.

Remote Desktop sharing is similar to Terminal service's Remote Administration mode.But the diffrence is there is no client and server environment. This is simply used to share one another's desktop in the network

In the case of a remote desktop, you are connecting directly to another workstation. That workstation has to be configured to allow remote connection. You log on to the workstation individually, just as if you were sitting in front of it, and no one else can use that workstation while you are logged on.Or we can say remote desktop is a one-to-one situation - one remote workstation connects to one local workstation, and both workstations are in use at the same time.

In terminal server, you are connecting to a server that is configured to allow multiple remote connections and supplies all of the functionality.Terminal Services can allow many sessions depending on your licensing. The server has to be configured carefully for the number of remote connections you are expecting, because it has to have enough RAM, processing power and disk space to provide all of the resources for all of the concurrent users. Each user's processes are running in a separate "session," but all of the processing are using the same hardware resources. Given the proper setup, all applications can be available to all users, or different applications can be set up in such a way as to be available only to certain users. Also given the proper setup and permissions, some users can be allowed to connect remotely to other users' sessions and see what they are doing, or help them (i.e., for remote assistance-type situations). Setting up a terminal server and configuring it properly is a lot more complicated than setting up a remote desktop.

Remote Desktop sharing is similar to Terminal service's Remote Administration mode.But the diffrence is there is no client and server environment. This is simply used to share one another's desktop in the network.

Windows Vista Tips & Tricks

2008-01-29T03:56:00.000-08:00

1. If you hate the look of Aero, click Start/Control Panel/Themes and you can choose a non-Aero theme, such as Windows Classic.

2. Windows Vista's installer can detect serial-ATA (SATA) drives without the need to provide a driver diskette. Don't bother creating a diskette for your SATA drives before you install Vista.

3. If, for some reason, the Vista installation gets interrupted due to an unintentional shutdown or reboot, start the computer without booting the Vista DVD. Windows Vista's installer should pick up where it left off. If it does-n't, then restart the installation over from scratch.

4. When you perform a search with Vista's new, instant search feature, you can save the search in a special folder. This powerful feature allows you to create a virtual folder which, by default, is saved in your \\Searches\ folder. Every time you open such a folder, the search results are updated.

5. In Windows Vista, you can add additional clocks to the system tray. Click the clock, and then click Date and Time Settings. Click the Additional Clocks tab. You can add one or two additional clocks to the tray and select their time zones.

6. You can save your progress in most of the games included with Windows Vista—even the carry-overs from earlier versions of Windows.

7. You can create XML documents, which are more secure than regular text files or even word processor docs. Just create a document in a word processor, print it via the options menu, and select the XPS printer.

8. If you upgrade your graphics card in preparation for Windows Vista, be sure to get a new card with as much local memory as possible. Since Windows Vista renders everything—even the desktop and windows them-selves—as 3D surfaces, local 3D memory greatly improves performance...sometimes even more than a more powerful GPU.

9. Windows Vista games deposit their saves into a special directory, called Saved Games, in your personal folder. In theory, that will make upgrading to a new system much easier for gamers, who like to migrate their game saves.

10. When using the Help system, it's usually advantageous to include Microsoft's online database in your search. The online/offline status of your search is located on the bottom right of the Help window. You can click it to toggle.

11. The Games folder is a powerful repository of all things gaming. From within, you launch games, update games with the latest patches, enable parental controls to protect younger users from harmful content, and more. Invoke it by clicking Start/Games.

12. Several applications are available to help you tweak Windows Vista for maximum performance. They in-clude TweakVI (www.totalidea.com), TweakVista (www.tweakvista.com/tweakvistautility), and VistaBootPRO (www.vistabootpro.org). And don't forget about Windows ReadyBoost, which lets you use a removable flash memory drive to boost system memory.

13. Do you use the icon in the upper left corner of system and application windows? A quick double-click closes the window (instead of a single click on the X at the upper right). Though Microsoft left the icon out in Vista, the function remains.—Sarah Pike

14. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, you can use column headers (Name, Size, and so on) to sort files. Savvy users may right-click on a column head to remove items or add some—say, Dimensions for images. There are around 45 such columns available in Windows XP. Windows Vista has well over 250, covering a multitude of metadata.—Sarah Pike

15. If you've become used to surfing your Program Menu to get to applications, you'll be in for a shock when you first use Microsoft Windows Vista. The new Program Menu shows you only recently used applications and requires extra clicks to navigate to submenus. This can be very frustrating but, thankfully, the Search box Microsoft has added to the Start menu is a great replacement—as long as you're an accurate typist. As quickly as you can type, it returns intelligent results in apps, files, even e-mail messages.

Start A movie in paint

2008-01-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

Start movie in Paint!

* First start a movie in any player.
* Then open Paint.
* Now, in the player when the movie is being played, press "Print screen" button on your key board.
* Now, Press ctrl+v in Paint* Leave the movie player open and don't minimize it.
* Open Paint now and see the movie in the Paint!

Youtube,Mega Video,Streaming Media Caching,etc

2008-01-13T15:57:00.001-08:00

http://www.orbitdownloader.com/

Windows XP Live: USB Stick Edition

2008-01-13T15:46:00.000-08:00

Ever want to boot up into Windows XP via a USB memory key?
Well, now you can !!!
This is a miniature version of Win XP
Just enough to get you up and running so you can restore from backup, access your files, or do whatever you have to doSize - 60.4 MB packed and 152 MB unpacked

Installation instructions:
livexp usb-stick installer script v0.9 After the download and dearchive, run LiveXP.bat
-[main]-
1) change source path []- path to livexp source files
2) change target path []- path where livexp will be installed -
3) list or format volume(s).- use for formatting usb flash devices
4) create, delete partition(s).- use for partitioning a harddisk -
q) quit.

***Enter your choice :1peinst: please give the location to your source livexp filesenter source path :c:\temp\installdir\
-[main]-
1) change source path [c:\temp\installdir\]- path to livexp source files -
2) change target path []- path where livexp will be installed -
3) list or format volume(s).- use for formatting usb flash devices -
4) create, delete partition(s).- use for partitioning a harddisk -
q) quit.
***Enter your choice : 2
peinst: please give the location where to install toenter target path : drive of your usb ex: f:-[main]
1) change source path []- path to livexp source files -
2) change target path [f:]- path where livexp will be installed -
3) list or format volume(s).- use for formatting usb flash devices
4) create, delete partition(s).- use for partitioning a harddisk
-q) quit.***Enter your choice :3
-[volume]-
1) list all volumes2) format a volume (FAT or NTFS)
q) quit
***Enter your choice :2Enter the drive letter to format (leave empty to quit) :f:Filesystem to use, NTFS or FAT? (n/f/q to quit) :fafter formating select install usbxp.
Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/59259293/Windows_XP_USB_Edition.rarpassword :- ddltohdd

RAR Player

2008-01-13T15:43:00.001-08:00

play .rar videos without extracting ...even if it is broken

http://rapidshare.com/files/71016989/Rar_Player_0.0087_Play_rar_movies_without_extracting.rar

Text to Speech

2008-01-13T15:37:00.001-08:00

convert any text to speech . Just open the s/w after installing and paste any text on it to hear ...dat's it

http://rapidshare.com/files/70951863/Text_to_speech.rar

Total Video Converter

2008-01-13T15:33:00.001-08:00

convert videos of any format ( .mpeg , .avi , .rmvb .......) to any other format

http://rapidshare.com/files/68993088/Total_Video_Converter_3.10.rar