PCgeekdom.com - PC Tricks and Projects

X10: Fun with Home Automation

2007-11-30T10:06:00.000-06:00

Quite a few years ago, X10 had a promotion, and gave away their Firecracker kit for almost free. It includes 2 plug-in modules, a handheld remote and a serial connecter transmitter. I have used this in the past to turn on Christmas lights with the remote control.

The serial connector it comes with, the ‘Firecracker’ allows for some very fun things. There are several Linux packages available that interface with the serial transmitter. The one I use is called heyu. It allows you to easily send commands to the X10 units like so: heyu fon A1. So to automate my Christmas lights, I just had to add two lines to crontab for on and off.

Another fun application of this system is alerting me if I have a new voicemail on my landline. I never remember to check for messages on my landline when I come home, so now I have it set to turn on a lamp whenever someone leaves me a voicemail!

Here is how it works. A feature of my voicemail services is that the system emails me a copy of every voicemail when it is left. I use Thunderbird for a mail client and leave it open on my Linux box. I use Thunderbirds filters to move any messages from the voicemail service to a voicemail folder. I use an add-on, Mailbox Alert, that can watch a particular folder, and can run a command when a new message arrives, so I have it set that whenever a new email from my voicemail service comes in it issues this command: heyu fon A2, turning on my lamp alerting me of a new voicemail.

Bash: Automatically make/update a symbolic link to the newest file in a directory

2007-10-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

I needed a script that could monitor a directory for file changes, and upon any changes create or update a symbolic link to the newest file in the directory. For this particular application, I was interested only in mpg files, and wanted the script to only monitor and link to mpg files.
This is what I came up with:

echo $$ > /home/vlc/video/watch_dir.pid
touch /tmp/watch_dirb.$$
while true
do
ls /home/vlc/video/FolderName -l --hide='newestfile.mpg'| \
grep mpg > /tmp/watch_dira.$$
diff /tmp/watch_dira.$$ /tmp/watch_dirb.$$ || \
ln -sf `ls /home/vlc/video/FolderName -lt \
--hide='newestfile.mpg' | grep mpg | head -n 1 | awk '{print $8}'` \
/home/vlc/video/FolderName/newestfile.mpg
cp /tmp/watch_dira.$$ /tmp/Watch_dirb.$$
sleep 60
done

There is probably a better method, but this seems to work well.
Script Explanation:
The first line writes the scripts process id to file to make it easier to terminate the script e.g. kill `cat watch_dir.pid`
The directory monitoring is done by writing the folder contents (using ls) to a tmp file, and then comparing the contents of the current file, filea, with the file populated from the last check, fileb.
If diff does detect a change then this command is executed:
ln -sf `ls /home/vlc/video/FolderName -lt --hide='newestfile.mpg' | grep mpg | head -n 1 | awk '{print $8}'` /home/vlc/video/FolderName/newestfile.mpg
This line creates a symbolic link named newestfile.mpg pointed to the newest file in that directory. The newest file is determined by ls -lt, it hides newestfile.mpg so as not to create a link to the link. It then uses grep to find just the mpg files and takes the top entry with head -n 1, it only needs the filename so only the 8th field is used. (Note: depending on your distro the filename may not be in the 8th field and the awk command may need adjusting. In my own testing, I have found that the filename is the 8th field in Ubuntu, but the 9th field in Fedora.
The script then waits for 1 minute and checks again.

Windows Vista...

2006-09-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

Windows has started handing out product keys for an evaluation copy of Windows Vista. Click here to sign up for one (requires MS Passport/Windows live account.) I signed up and downloaded the Vista ISO. Since I don't have an extra machine laying around to throw on a beta OS I decided to try it in my VMware Server, installation went pretty smoothly.
I haven't had a chance to dive too deep into the new MS beast but what I first noticed is how much it is becoming to look like a lot of many other operating systems. They now have a "sidebar" that you can fill with "gadgets" And instead of the good old Start button it is now a Windows circle thing.
I will admit my first concern is how MS has decided to not include a shortcut to the Run dialog on the Start menu by default. My reason for concern is because I have to provide tech-support over the phone and this will create yet one more battle...
Overall it is pretty interesting, since I get to play with it for free right now I can't complain. I'm sure I am "missing out" on a lot of the new 3d rendering goodness, since I am running it via VMware. They use a system called Windows Experience Index to decide how much "fluff" to add. Since I am just running it via VMware Server I got a base score of 1. Someday I may have to load Vista on a machine that can use its full power until then, I will continue to play with it virtually.

Cheap Networking Troubleshooter: Loopback Plug

2006-06-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

A loopback plug can be very useful in testing and troubleshooting network problems. The loopback plug will cause the link light on a device, (a network card, switch, router, etc.) to come on. This is a very quick and cheap way to test simple network cabling problems. To make a loopback plug you just need to connect the transmit and receive lines together. (See picture.) Of course if you have some money to throw around you could buy a network tester a little bit more advanced, Fluke Networks offers a wide range of portable network testing equipment.

Featured Freeware: Audacity - Audio Editor & Recorder

2006-05-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

If you have ever had the need or want to be able to easily create or edit a sound file, the open-source software Audacity is just what you are looking for.

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

Record live audio.
Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
And more! See the complete list of features.

Basic Linux Tips and Tricks

2006-04-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

As a relative Linux Newbie I have a lot yet to learn about our favorite open-source OS. I can however share a few of the tips and tricks I have found so far while working/playing with Linux.

While in a console window:
The Tab key - you can use the Tab key to autocomplete a command. For example if you have a file "thisisareallylongfilename.txt" and in the command line you type "pico thisis" and press tab it will complete the command to "pico thisisareallylongfilename.txt" for you.
Up Arrow - scrolls through previously entered commands
top - similar to Windows Task Manager, makes it easy to see and kill process.
pstree - prints the system tree of processes
cal - Displays a calendar, other options to try: cal -3, cal 7 1776
use echo and python as a scientific calculator: echo 'print (148+25)/(100E6)' | python
wget - a good quick downloader: wget http://...../file.ext
Use a stack to hold directory locations:
pushd . - pushes current directory to top of a stack
popd - pops and switches to the directory at the top of the stack
time cat - Start a stopwatch type Ctrl-D to stop and display time, to time how long a process takes just place time in front of the command.
man "command" - If you are unsure of how to use a command, man (manual) will display the documentation for that command. For example you could type man man to get the manual's manual.

These are just a few of the many many commands that can make using Linux easier, for more information on basic Linux, check out Linux.com and Unix Guide.

Shortcuts for Windows - Use the Windows Key

2006-04-12T17:27:00.000-05:00

There are many useful shortcuts in the world of PCs. One of my favorite ways of saving a trip from my keyboard to the mouse is to use the Windows Run dialog box. The quickest way to open it up is by pressing Windows key + R. With Run you can open up most anything, below is a list of some regularly used applications. If you know the file name for the program you want to open, just try typing it in and hitting enter.

calc - Windows Calculator
notepad or notepad++ - Text Editor
cmd - Command Prompt (use command for Win95-WinME)
msconfig - Configure Various System settings like startup
msinfo32 - Displays Windows XP System Information
regedit - Windows Registry Editor
winipcfg - IP Configuration for Win95-WinME

iexplore - Internet Explorer
firefox - If you are cool
msimn - Outlook Express
outlook - MS Outlook
winword - Microsoft Word

dvdplay (uses Windows Media Player for DVD playback)
sol - Solitaire
freecell - FreeCell
mshearts - MS Hearts

I might also mention some of the Windows key's other great uses:
Windows key + d - Takes you to the desktop and back
Windows key + e - Opens Windows Explorer
Windows key + f - Run a search
Windows key + l - Logout or Lock your Windows Session (WinXP)
Windows key + Pause/Break - Opens System Properties

Featured Freeware: Notepad ++ - Programming Tool

2006-04-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

A great piece of (Windows only) freeware that got passed my way is Notepad ++ If you do any kind of programming, this is a great simple editor that supports lots of languages. I was pretty impressed when I saw it had formatting support for VHDL. To see a screen shot of an example 7 Segment Display VHDL file I wrote in Notepad++ look here. Notepad++ supports over 35 different languages, some of those include PHP, ASP, VB, HTML, Python, PERL, FORTRAN, and the list goes on and on... It also supports Java, if you are doing a lot of Java development, I would recommend an Open Source environment called Eclipse. It checks for errors on the fly and makes compiling and finding problems a breeze. Eclipse makes dealing with the extremely picky Java language bearable.

VOIP - Asterisk@Home

2006-03-26T17:30:00.000-06:00

Asterisk@Home is an open source Linux based PBX system. I have a couple of friends from work who have setup AAH in their homes and have shown me some of the cool features, so I decided to check it out for myself. Since I already have VMware Server running I decided to test out the system virtually. Thanks to vmwarez.com, you can download the virtual machine already setup and ready to go from their website. AAH comes with a nice web GUI that makes it a breeze to setup. For extensions, I am trying two different softphones because, hey they are free! X-Lite (SIP) on my Linux machine and Idefisk (IAX2) on my Windows machine.
I wanted people to be able to call me, since I dont have a land-line and didn't want to spend any money I looked at some good VOIP providers. I found two VOIP providers that offer free inbound calling, FWD (you also need IPKall) which gives you a free Washington state number. The registration time for this took a while, an hour for the IPKall # to go active, and a whole day for FWD to turn on the IAX2 service. It also seems like FWD is a lot less reliable at connecting incoming calls.
Another VOIP provider is StanaPhone, they give a New York # free for incoming calls. The registration and activation of the number only took around 10 minutes. I am using both services, I use FWD to call out to Toll Free numbers for free, and I use StanaPhone for my incoming calls. (StanaPhone also has a pre-paid outbound service which is only 1.6 cents per minute for all domestic calls.)
Asterisk@Home is very powerful and customizable, for example some of the simple to setup features are; auto-attendant, wake-up calls, a weather extension, voice-mail, you can also view detailed calling reports, setup advanced dialing plans and so much more.
For more information on VOIP and tip and tricks for setting up AAH check out, VoipJots.com and NerdVittles.com.

Bootable USB Drive - Damn Small Linux

2006-03-24T16:19:00.000-06:00

I first came across Damn Small Linux when I was first playing with VMware Server, I had installed the DSL VM to test using another OS. Damn Small Linux, as the name implies is very small, only 50MB, but is a complete feature filled OS. The neat part of such a small OS is that it can easily fit on a USB flash drive. Below are the steps I took to create my own Linux-PC-on-a-stick.

First, you will need to format your USB drive. Download and install this HP utility, and format the drive in FAT.

Then, download Damn Small Linux, you can view their website for all their versions, or download the embedded version directly from PCgeekdom.com here. Unzip the files to your USB drive.

You will now need to make your USB drive bootable, to do that download and extract syslinux. Now in a command window cd to the syslinux directory and type the command "syslinux.exe F:" where "F" is the letter of your USB device.

Now the tricky/fun part is actually booting, you will need to use a PC with a newer version of BIOS that supports USB booting. You will need to open up BIOS and make sure USB devices are allowed for boot up, and change the boot sequence to check for USB before your HDD.

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2006-03-18T11:51:00.000-06:00

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SSH Tunnels :: Access Your Work PC From Home

2006-03-13T11:54:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in the first SSH article, SSH can be used in many ways, another use of port forwarding is to be able to securely access your work computer from home, even though it may be in an internal network behind a firewall.
To do this, you will need the same setup as in the first article, a home PC with a SSH server and a SSH client on the work computer. I am going to describe how to VNC to the work computer, although you can use any other service as well, if you want to RDP you will use port 3389 instead of 590*, I like VNC because is seems a little thinner and simpler and runs well over congested Internet connections. If you don't already, you will need to install VNC on both PCs.
You will now setup a SSH connection to your home PC from work. In PuTTY the Host Name, will again be the IP address of your home computer. Then click on the Tunnels section, you can have many tunnels setup for each session. The image to the right also shows tunnels to VNC to two home PCs from work and for web traffic.
To add the tunnel for a VNC connection from home to work, you will add the following parameters, in source port you will type "5901". For destination, put "localhost:5900", select Remote and click add. Now you will open the connection and login. As long as the SSH connection is open you will be able to connect your work PC from home, (by default the SSH server at home will keep the connection alive.) To establish the VNC connection from your home PC, you will open up the VNC viewer, for the server you will use, "localhost:1". You should now be connected to your work PC.

PCgeekdom Toolkit

2006-03-10T12:35:00.000-06:00

My old USB jumpdrive finally fizzled out on me. It had gotten a lot of use and had been beaten up pretty bad. I found that TigerDirect has the 1GB Lexar Sport Jumpdrive for only $36.99 (limited-time sale.) This jump drive is designed for rugged use, and I hope will last a long time. In preparation for my new jumpdrive, I have been updating and gathering the essential parts of my PC repair toolkit for fixing most spyware and anti-virus related problems. Below is a list and description of the files in the PCgeekdom toolkit, which you can download in one handy zip file.

AdAware SE : A thorough spyware/adware remover.
AVG FREE Anti-Virus : A great antivirus software all users should use.
CWShredder: Tool to remove Cool Web Search variants.
FxSasser: Symantecs Sasser virus fix.
HijackThis: Great for removing browser plugins and toolbars, and more advanced settings.
LSPFix: Repair Internet files from Newdotnet.
MSconfig: A Windows utility to control startup items, not included with win.
SpyBot Search and Destroy: Another spyware/adware remover.
Winsock XP Fix: Easy to use tool to restore Internet access, fixes the "An operation was attempted on something that was not a socket" message.
W2Fix: Similar to WinsockXP Fix but for pre-NT windows, (Great for Dial-up networking problems.)

Click here to download the PCgeekdom Toolkit!

SSH Tunnels :: How to Beat a Firewall

2006-03-06T11:54:00.000-06:00

SSH is a very powerful and secure tool to remotely access a computer. Setting up a secure tunnel, also known as port forwarding, can be very handy. One popular use of a "shunnel" is to get through a secure or over-zealous firewall. Please note that if you are going to use this technology in your workplace, those firewalls and security settings are set in place for a reason, so don't go surfing and downloading things you really shouldn’t. I have been playing with this as means for learning, ok and so I can download my Firefox extensions. Anyways, so in order to “beat” the firewall, you will setup a SSH session from your computer behind the firewall; computer W, to a computer at home; computer H. Computer H will need to have a SSH server on and running, if you are running Linux at home, most distros will already have a SSH server. If computer H is running Windows, you will need to install a SSH Server. On computer W, you will need a SSH client, a great Windows client is PuTTY. Once all the necessary software is installed, you will need to know your home IP address. (If you have multiple computers at home, you will need to setup your router to forward port 22 to the computer with the SSH server.) Now on computer W, you will open up PuTTY, for Host name you will put in your home computers IP address, and then go to the Tunnels section. For source port type 8080 and select Dynamic and click add. (As shown in the image to the left.) Now when you click open, you will connect to your home PC and will have to login. Once you are logged in, open up your browser, you will need to change the connection settings to use a Socks proxy (as shown in the image to the right.) Now when you go to access a webpage, your request is forwarded (in the Secure Shell, so the firewall can't see what your are doing) to you home PC, and back. To check to see if it is setup right check your IP address again, it should now say the IP of your home PC. This method is not limited to just web traffic, for example, I also use SSH tunnels to VNC to my home PCs, this way I do not have to punch more holes in my home router, the only port I have to have open is for the SSH connection.

Data Backup - Better Safe than Sorry

2006-02-26T15:55:00.000-06:00

If your hard drive crashed right now, would you miss anything; your important documents, pictures, e-mails, extensive music collection? Of course you would, but have you done anything to prevent losing your data? Data backup is very important, yet so many people don’t do it. To keep my data backed up I use an external hard drive connected by firewire, similar to this external hard drive, and a FREE program called SyncBack. This program is loaded with options, and is still easy to use. I have a couple profiles setup in SyncBack, one that runs everyday, and synchronizes a folder on my external HD with my laptop's documents and settings folder. You can also setup advanced filtering options so you don’t copy over temporary files etc. I also have a profile that synchronizes another folder on the external HD with my laptop’s complete hard drive, that I run once a month or so. If you are looking for a powerful free backup utility, I would definitely recommend SyncBack.

Phone Handset for a PC

2006-02-24T11:53:00.000-06:00

I use my PC for a lot of voice conversations, for simplicity sake, I just use the voice feature of MSN Messenger, although I would like to play around with some of the other options like Skype.
I was using a cheap microphone I had laying around, and the other person was always having trouble hearing me unless I held the microphone right next to my mouth. I would also get some feedback type issues if I didn't use headphones. I know they make headsets that would solve all those problems, but I happened to have some spare junk laying around, (an old headset, coil cord, and two 1/8 inch jacks) and with some inspiration from a ThinkGeek product, I decided to adapt a telephone headset to use with my computer. It was really pretty easy. I just cut one end of the coil cord off, and stripped those wires. I opened up the headset and used a multi-meter's continuance mode to figure out exactly which of the wires went to what. It was then just a matter of soldering 2 standard 1/8 inch jacks to the end of the corresponding ends of the coil cord. I added a little electrical tape, and I was done. I plugged it in and it works great, actually as I am typing this, I am using it with a voice conversation, and the both of us can hear better, and I get the satisfaction of getting to hold a big hunk of plastic while I talk.

Firefox - The Open Source Browsing Alternative

2006-02-22T23:31:00.000-06:00

Mozilla's Firefox is a versatile secure alternative to Internet Explorer. One of the biggest advantages is tabbed browsing. With tabbed browsing organizing and navigating multiple websites is greatly improved. A useful function of this is the ability to create a folder with related links, then all you have to do is right-click on the folder and choose Open in tabs and all your links are loaded in the same window. IE7 will also support tab browsing, but from what I have seen of it so far, like most Microsoft products it is a bloated memory hog.
The great part of Firefox being open source is it allows the programming community to create new extensions. These extensions can range from extremely useful to just plain amusing. For a good write up on some Firefox extensions check out a Download.com article. For a more complete list of extensions look here. There are some websites that just don't work well or even at all without Internet Explorer, IE Tab is a very cool extension that allows you to open the webpage within IE as a tab in Firefox, so now you can even do your Windows Updates within Firefox!

To download Mozilla Firefox, click on the button below.

Fun With Virtualization

2006-02-14T23:23:00.000-06:00

Virtualization is one of the fastest growing and one of the coolest technologies in IT within the last few years. A great site to see virtualization news and information is vmwarez.com, from this site I found out that VMware is now offering their server for free. I decided to download the VMware Server on my Linux box. The installation was very simple, just a matter of running a perl script, (as long as the kernel sources and a C compiler are installed.) For my first virtual machine, I chose to install Windows 98 SE. Necessary? No. Cool [for a geek]? Yes. I was surprised how easy to create a new virtual machine really was, the VMware Server walks you through the actual setup part in a wizard, then it is just a matter of booting the virtual server from the CD and installing the OS. I was a little leery at first, as Windows had loaded its default VGA driver and I only got 16 colors, the mouse was also pretty touchy, but VMware has an easy solution for this as well; VMware Tools, it painlessly installs drivers on the guest OS that allows excellent video output and better mouse control. With VMware Server you also get many options with how you network your virtual machines, I set my virtual connection up as a bridged connection with my Linux host box. This way I can easily access the virtual machine from my Windows Laptop as well. That's right, I had a VNC connection from my Windows XP notebook to a virtual Windows 98 machine hosted on a Linux box, virtualization is great!

Microsoft replaces MSAS with Windows Defender Beta 2

2006-02-14T17:25:00.000-06:00

Windows Defender Beta 2 has now taken the place of Microsoft Anti-Spyware. The overall GUI has changed. The overall functionality it seems is the same. The installation routine took a little longer then the previous version. Upon installing Windows Defender I tried to update but have not been successful, I am getting the following message, "Windows Defender was unable to complete the update: 0x8024002b" I am guessing that the update server may be too busy. Microsoft sure knows how to put out a helpful error message. This version's tools have changed, I do like the Software Explorer. It gives detailed information about software falling into the following lists; Startup Programs, Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs, and Winsock Service Providers.
From Microsoft's Website:

Q. What is the difference between Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) and Windows Defender (Beta 2)?

A. Windows Defender (Beta 2) is the name of the next beta version of Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware. It includes several enhancements that are based on customer input. Changes include, but are not limited to:

1. Improved detection and removal. Windows Defender (Beta 2) can detect and remove more threats posed by spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Real-Time Protection, which helps prevent unwanted software from being installed, is enhanced to better monitor key points in the operating system for changes. These features help you stay productive because they help to prevent pop-ups and the performance degradation that is caused by spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

2. Redesigned and simplified user interface. The Windows Defender (Beta 2) user interface has been redesigned to make it easer to scan your computer and remove unwanted files. The new interface also delivers a warning system that alerts you to the severity of a threat and makes appropriate recommendations to help secure your computer. This new design gives you more control over the software on your computer and minimizes interruptions to your work.

3. Protection features for all users. Windows Defender (Beta 2) can now be run by all the users who use a particular computer, whether they have administrator-level privileges or not. This helps ensure that all the people who use a computer are able to benefit from the protection features offered by Windows Defender (Beta 2).

4. Definition updates delivered through Automatic Updates. Windows Defender (Beta 2) now receives updates through Automatic Updates. Provided by Microsoft analysts, these updates help keep you protected from the latest threats at no adtional cost.

5.Voting network statistics. When Windows Defender (Beta 2) detects potentially unwanted software, it shows you how customers who participate in the opt-in network voted to classify the software. This helps provide you with more information even before Microsoft analysts evaluate the software.

My Setup - Using Synergy

2006-02-13T23:08:00.000-06:00

I am currently operating two PCs, an Inspiron 6000 laptop from Dell running Windows XP, and a PC I built myself running Linux (SuSE 10.0 distribution.)
I ordered the parts for my desktop from TigerDirect.com I don't do a lot of gaming or anything so I went more for cost effective parts then high end.
I decided to install Linux as a fun project and to make myself learn something new. The installation itself was fairly easy, I did an FTP install, so it took several hours to download and install. The distro uses YAST, which makes the initial setup very easy.
If you are looking for information, or are thinking about switching to Linux check out Linux 101 on About.com
As the picture to the left shows I have my LCD screen for my Linux machine above my laptop. For simplicity I wanted a way to be able to use my keyboard and mouse hooked up to my laptop to also control my desktop. I came across a very cool open-source application that made this possible. It is called Synergy, it allows for one keyboard and mouse to be shared by multiple machines and operating systems. It also allows for a shared clipboard which is extremely useful. If you have multiple machines side by side Synergy is a must have.

Microsoft Anti Spyware (MSAS) Registry Permission Problem

2006-02-05T13:45:00.000-06:00

I recently worked on a computer that was behaving oddly. For one user account, MS Ant-Spyware would open and run just fine, but for the other user account, it would produce an "Unexpected Error, Quitting " error message, and not allow the application to load. The owner had tried to uninstall and reinstall MSAS as well as trying to create a new user and the problem continued. After some research, it appears that for some reason, the permissions in the registry for Microsoft Anti-Spyware get set to only the user who originally installed the software. To fix the problem I had to reset the permissions in the registry to Administrators, instead of just the one user. I will list the steps I used to do this. However, this is probably not the best way, just the quickest. Before any major registry hack you should always back up the registry and be familiar enough with Windows just incase you would make a mistake. The keys in question are found under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and start at gcasDtServ.Agent, there are around 80 keys here, It would probably be best to reset the permissions for each individually, but it is a heck of a lot quicker to force the permission down the entire HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder. To do so, right click on the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder and click on "Permissions..." then it should list Users, if Administrators is not listed click on Add, then type in "Administrators" (sans quotes) in the new window that pops up. When you click on the "Check Names" button it should add the name of your computer to Administrators if you typed it in correctly, once that is in, press OK. Now when you click on the Administrators in the users list, it will state what the permissions are, check "Full Control" and press OK. This should then take care of the problem. I had uninstalled MSAS before doing the registry edit then reinstalled it after, although I do not think this was necessary.

Replacing a Laptop's LCD Backlight

2006-02-05T11:21:00.000-06:00

The first step was to tear the display apart. (After taking the battery out and unplugging the power of course.) There were several screws under little stick on rubber pads that had to be removed. I then for simplicity's sake unattached the display from the laptop's main body. The LCD has a metal frame around it that had to be unscrewed and taken off. Then it came time to find the bulb. On this LCD display their was a metal housing with the power leads coming out that held the bulb. When I unscrewed this the LCD came more apart then I was really thinking it would. I was unsure of how to get to the bulb, I slowly pulled back the housing and could see it. I detached the housing from the main LCD frame and was able to more easily access the bulb. Using a small screw driver behind the rubber caps, I slowly worked the bulb out from the housing. I then carefully worked the rubber caps off of the end of the bulbs and up the wire. Using side-cutters I snipped the power cables as close to the bulb as possible, (there was not very much slack in the backlight cable from the Inverter to begin with.) The edges of the bulb appeared to be darkened maybe showing their demise. I then stripped off just enough of the cable's insulation to make a loop around the conductor of the new bulb. Once I got the loop at the suggested 2-3mm position from the end of the bulb, I soldered it, and cut the excess wire from the bulb. Slipping on the rubber caps back down made me a little nervous especially with the heavier gage red wire. One of the trickier parts was getting the wires to sit back down right and put the LCD back together. After a few minutes of fiddling and lots of wiggling, I got it to all fit back together. As soon as I did I immediately put a couple screws back in, to keep it from coming apart again. It then came time to test it. I got all the cables hooked back up, plugged back in the power, (nothing blew up or burnt out which was nice!) I then turned it on... low and behold the backlight was still not on! I could still make out the images the LCD was producing, but with no backlight. I then decided to check the Inverter, it appears the Inverter has also gone out, when hooking up a multimeter to the output I got no voltage at all... I will have to check with the laptop's owner and see if they want to put more money into to this aging laptop, I found an Inverter on eBay for $50, so we will see.
And let there be [back]light! After replacing the inverter, the the new bulb came right on and is working great Replacing the inverter was just a matter of unhooking a couple of cables. It took longer to un-package the new inverter then to install it.

Laptop LCD Backlight

2006-02-02T20:49:00.000-06:00

A Gateway 400 Notebook came my way with what I assume is a burnt out back light. You can see that the LCD is creating the picture, but without the light behind it, it is near impossible to see anything.

I figured that surely this coulnt be too bad to fix. I decided to check the documentation that came with the laptop and Gateways website, and not so suprisingly found no help other then the usual, "You will need to send the computer in to Gateway to be serviced".

I then decided to go my usual route and googled it. I was kind of suprised and a little worried by how little information I found. Most things I did find basically said it was a lot of tricky work, along with some warnings, a lot of people just ended up tossing the display anyway. That sure does build my confidence! Never the less, I decided to tear apart the laptop and check out the display to at least see what I am dealing with. I found the LCD's part # CLAA150XH01 when I googled that I was able to find a more hopeful answer at LCDpart.com. The replacement bulb was less then $10 so I decided to order one. Hopefully I will recieve the bulb in the next few days, I will then post my progress, hopefully it will be good news!

More Advanced Spyware Cleanup...

2006-02-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

Some of the spyware out there can be a real pain in the neck to get rid of, and can do some real damage to the files that your computer uses to access the Internet.

Most malware will try to change Window's Internet files in order to redirect you to advertisers or other companies. When the malware tries to take over these files most of the time, instead of changing the Internet traffic, it brakes it, causing your Internet connection stop working all together. One of the most common errors is when trying to renew your PC's IP address, you will get "an operation was attempted on something that was not a socket" message. This means your Winsock files have been compromised. Luckily, there are some tools out there that make restoring those Winsock files pretty easy. For Windows XP, I like to use WinsockXPFix. For Windows 95,98,ME I like to use W2fix.

Some other more advanced tools for fighting malware are:

HighjackThis by Merijn is very useful but should only be used by knowledgeable users.
CWShredder is the best tool to remove variants of Cool Web Search.

I will also note that you can more easily remove spyware by keeping it from starting up when you turn on your computer. The best way to do this is to turn your computer on in Safe Mode, you can do this by tapping the F8 key as your computer is booting, and choosing Safe Mode from the Windows boot options. You can also disable individual programs from starting up by opening up msconfig ( window-key R then type in msconfig and press OK) Under the Startup tab is a list of all programs that start when Windows boots, you can uncheck any suspicious looking programs. (If you are not sure what one is try searching for the file name in Google.)

Keeping a Clean PC

2006-01-31T20:55:00.000-06:00

In the past three and a half years I have spent providing technical support, I have seen the majority of computer problems that home users face. Lately the biggest problems have been caused by malware (Spyware or Adware.) Symptoms of Spy or Adware are: your computer acting slow and sluggish and odd Internet behavior such as your browser going to advertisement search pages instead of the address you typed in. This malware is usually hidden inside of things you download from the Internet, or can even get on you computer without you even meaning to, usually accidentally by clicking on pop up ads etc. There are many ways of dealing with this problem. The best FREE tools I have found are LavaSoft's AdAware, Microsoft Anti-Spyware, and SpyBot Search and Destroy.

AdAware is very thorough and powerful for removing the junk that your computer has already collected. It is important that you keep AdAware's definition file up to date. You can download AdAware from LavaSoft's Webpage.

MS Anti-Spyware is also a powerful program for finding and removing adware and spyware. The nice thing about this software is that it updates automatically, and runs in the background helping prevent the malware from getting on your computer in the first place. In order to run this software you have to have a valid installation of Windows 2000 or XP, and can be downloaded from Microsoft's Webpage.

SpyBot Search & Destroy is like AdAware, I would recommend installing both if your computer is already badly infected, running both will help catch all the bad guys. You can find SpyBot here.

It is also very important to have an up to date Anti Virus program. Grisoft makes a program called AVG FREE, as the name implies is completely free, you don't have to keep shelling out money to get the updates like you do with Norton or McAfee, and my experience has been that AVG even works better then most of the pay versions out there. It is important to remember in the computer world the rule of you get what you pay for does not always apply as it does in the physical world. You can download AVG Free from Grisoft's Webpage.

Having a good anti-virus and anti-spyware program installed on your computer is a must if you want to be able to be on the Internet and keep your computer healthy.

Later I will discuss more advanced tools and tricks to fighting malware that the above programs can't always find and fix.