spencerkam.com

How to Delete Files with Trailing Periods

2008-10-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

For a while, I'd had interesting experiences with my Mac users creating folders with a trailing period in the folder name. They'd create folders with names like Spencer K. Why they'd do that? I don't know. But, it's a real pain in the butt to clean up.

I've found a solution to delete these folders, fortunately.

In the command prompt, navigate to where the folder is located.

Type in the command
dir /x

This will provide you with the short name of the folder. In the case of Spencer K. the result will be spencerk~1.

To remove the file, you would type the following command.

rd spencerk~1 /s

The /s switch in the rd command will force the rd command to delete its files and folders within the main folder.

Disable Firefox's Session Restore Feature

2008-09-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

Firefox periodically saves you session so that if it crashes, it can restore your tabs for you. While this is a useful feature, I could see how it could bother some users. Disabling this feature is quite easy however.

In the Firefox URL bar, type about:config.
Click I'll be careful, I promise!
Search for the key browser.sessionstore.enabled
Change this key's value to False.

After you make this change, Firefox will no longer save your sessions.

Recover Lost CD Keys and Serial Numbers

2008-09-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ever install a game, but later lose the CD key or serial number? Worry no more. You can recover your lost CD keys and serial numbers with a freeware called Game Key Revealer and SoftKey Revealer. Game Key Revealer and SoftKey Revealer search for which products you have installed and also finds the CD key and serial numbers required to install your favorite games. This freeware is available for download at http://cakirbey.googlepages.com/ .

Turn Off Firefox 3 Auto Suggest Feature for URL Bar

2008-08-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

If you don't like Firefox 3 suggesting the URL for you as you type, you can turn this off. By default, it suggests 12 sites. This is also a good way to trim down the number of sites that are displayed as you type.

In the Firefox URL bar, type about:config.
Click I'll be careful, I promise!
Search for the key browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
Edit this value and change it to as many sites as you'd like Firefox to suggest. To turn it off, set it to 0. But you could jest as easily set it to 3 or whatever number tickles your fancy (integers only please!)

Recover Dead Hard Drives with Knoppix Linux

2008-08-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was using a Linksys NAS200 to backup my data. While fiddling around with it, the hard drive that I had inside of the unit suddenly stopped working. For some of the data on the drive, I had a copy on my primary hard drive. But for some of the data, the copy on my NAS200 was my only copy.

I tried to take the hard drive out of the NAS200 and put it directly into my main system. I knew that the NAS used Linux to setup the different shares, so I had a hunch that I wouldn't be able to simply move the hard drive and access it right away. As expected, Windows wasn't able to recognize the drive and wanted to format it.

Since Linux was used to format the drive and create the shares to begin with, I downloaded a copy of Knoppix Linux. Knoppix is a Linux LiveCD, which means it will load Linux on your system without any complications of really installing Linux on your system. The entire OS will load on a temporary partition on a hard drive, and the applications will run from the CD/DVD. I figured that this would be my best shot. I popped the Knoppix disk in and in a few minutes, Linux loaded on my system. I was able to see the all of my hard drives, including the one that I wasn't able to access earlier. I immediately copied the data on the dead drive to a portable USB hard drive. All my data was available and copied over successfully.

Knoppix undoubtably saved all of my data. It's definiately a very useful tool. Even if you only use it once in a long while, it definitely comes in handy when required. Best of all, its free and downloadable on their website.

Syslogd Process Hogging Up CPU Resources

2008-08-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today, I had switched a user to one of our new systems with Leopard. Upon switching her out, she quickly called complaining that her new computer was painfully slow. I took a look at the Activity Monitor and saw that she had a syslogd process that was taking up 100% of the cpu cycles.

The fix that I found was relatively simple.

Disable Time Machine. Go to the System Preferences, click on Time Machine, and turn it off.
Launch Activity Monitor (found under Applications/Utilities) and force quit the process syslogd.
Reenable Time Machine

Once you kill syslogd, a new process will spawn under the same name, but its CPU cycles will be very much lower.

Build a Windows Server Update Services(WSUS) Server

2008-07-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Install Internet Information Services
To verify that IIS was installed, open a web browser, and navigate to http://127.0.0.1/. You should receive an Under Construction page if IIS is installed successfully.
Install Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 and WinHTTP 5.1
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=47251
Install .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=68935
Install Report Viewer Redistributable 2005
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=70410
Install Microsoft Management Console 3.0
http://go.microsoft.com/fslink/?LinkID=70412
Give Read permissions to Network Service on the root of the drive where the updates will be stored. In this case, it will be E:.
Install WSUS
a. Set the location to store updates.
b. Create the WSUS database
c. Configure the update site.
d. Set Product and Classification download settings.

Plantronics Discovery 665 Review

2008-07-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today I'll be reviewing the Plantronics Discovery 665. This is one of a few bluetooth headsets that I've used, but this one is probably my favorite.

The Discovery 665 is very light and weighs in at only 9 grams. The headset is an in-ear design, much like headphones, but there is an optional stabilizing loop that hooks to your ear. It comes with different gel ear pieces to accommodate for people with larger or smaller ears.

The sound quality of this headset is much better than headsets that I've used in the past. Voice sounds clear to me during conversations and I haven't had anyone tell me that the quality on the receiving end was poor.

What really makes this headset stand out is it's charger. Rather than a traditional wall charger, this headset comes with a vehicle charger that you plug into the cigarette lighter. This feature practically sold the headset to me, since I'd be using this headset nearly 100% of the time while driving around Southern California.

This headset also comes with a USB charger, so you could alternatively charge this headset on your computer. Alternatively, you could purchase this traditional Plantronics Charger if you wanted to charge your headset in a more traditional manner.

The one gripe that I do have about this headset are the buttons to adjust the volume or to answer/hang up. The buttons feel very stiff and while you're wearing the headset, it feels like you're trying to mash it through your skull.

Overall, I would recommend this headset. It's simplistic interface, comfort to wear, and unique vehicle charger make this headset a keeper.

New User Account Not Showing Up on Login Screen in OSX 10.5

2008-06-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Macs in a predominately Windows environment don't play well. We all know that. But here's another reason that they don't play well. With OS X 10.5 systems, when you bind the computer to the domain, when new users log into the system, their account will be created but the account will not show up on the login screen. When creating local accounts, I've found that OS X 10.5 has no problem also displaying on the login screen. However, when a network account was logged into the machine, their account would not show up on the login screen. In Tiger, I didn't have problems, but since this is our first Leopard build, we're having all kinds of fun. The fix is simple, however.

Launch Directory Utility, which can be found in the Applications\Utilities folder.
On the Directory Servers tab, click + to bind it to the domain.
Click the Services tab.
Double-click where it says Active Directory.
Show the Advanced Options.
In the User Experience tab, right below, tick the box that says Create mobile account at login.
Reboot the system.

Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook

2008-06-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ever get that weird feeling in your stomach after you delete something and realize that you need it? We all do. In Microsoft Outlook, you can recover your deleted emails quite easily.

Open the folder where the email was located.
Click on Tools -> Recover Deleted Items.
In there, you'll see a list of your emails that you recently deleted. Highlight the emails that you want recovered, and click Recover Selected Items.
You emails will then be recovered back to its original folder.

Hide Contacts from Showing Up in GAL

2008-06-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

In certain environments, you may have created contacts which you don't want to show up in your Global Address List (GAL).

To hide these certain contacts,

Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
Locate the contact that you want to be hidden.
Open their properties and go to the Exchange Advanced tab.
Tick the box that reads "Hide from Exchange address lists".

In my case, it took about 5 minutes for the contact to be hidden in the GAL. If you're using Outlook in cache mode, it may take up to 24 hours for this change to take effect.

Force Empty Trash in OSX

2008-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

If you put files that are in use in your trash, OSX will prevent you from emptying the trash can. To force deletion, hold down Option then Empty Trash.

This was useful to me today when apparently, I had 50GB of data that was sitting in the Trash but couldn't be deleted. Somewhat of a pain.

Recreate a Show Desktop Shortcut

2008-06-17T15:17:00.001-07:00

Its so easy to accidentally delete your Show Desktop shortcut on your Quick Launch bar in Windows XP and Windows Vista. However, it is also easy to recreate this shortcut if you accidentally delete it.

Here's what you need to do to recreate a Show Desktop shortcut.

Create a new text document in Notepad.
Type in the following lines.
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
Save the file as Show Desktop.scf.
Move this file to your Quick Launch toolbar.

How to Free Up BlackBerry Device Memory

2008-06-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Delete Old Email
Keep a tidy inbox. I like to delete my emails on my BlackBerry once I've read them. I don't feel that I really go back to them once I've read them, and if I did need to go back, I could always check back to my email client at my desk. I only try to keep any emails that are absolutely necessary.

You can also choose to only keep messages for a certain period of time. To do this, open your Inbox, press the BlackBerry Menu button, select Options, then General Options. If you scroll down, you'll see an option for Keep Messages, you can adjust this. The minimum is 15 days, but you could if you wanted to keep the messages forever.

Keep A Clean Calendar
Calendar is pretty much similar to inbox. No need to keep old appointments unless you can somehow look at your old appointments then close your eyes and relive the past. To clear your old appointments, open your Calendar, click the BlackBerry Menu button, select Options. Scroll down and find Keep Appointments. Like your inbox, the minimum is 15, and you can keep appointments forever.

Move Media Files to a MicroSD Card
Do you really need your MP3 collection on your BlackBerry's internal memory? Purchase a MicroSD card and store your media there.

Delete Unused Applications
Why keep applications that you never use? Free them up by going into Options -> Advanced Options -> Applications. You can then press the BlackBerry Menu button and select Delete.

Clear Event Logs
The BlackBerry actually stores logs of every action that was performed on your device. To view and clear the even log, press ALT, then type in LGLG. This will bring up the event log. To clear it, press the Blackberry Menu button and select Clear Log.

Propogate Exchange Public Folder Permissions

2008-06-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Work hard, but don't do hard work. This applies to so many things, but never more appropriate than doing tedious and repetitive work. Changing the permissions on a few folders is no problem, but what if there are thousands. Here's how to change permissions on all subfolders for Exchange Public Folders.

Launch Exchange System Manager
Drill Down to Administrative Groups -> [Your Org] -> Folders -> Public Folders.
Right-click on the parent folder that has the permissions that you want to push down to the children.
Select All Tasks then Manage Settings.
Select Overwrite Settings.
Select the settings that you want to overwrite on the children.
Click Finish to confirm your changes.

The changes may take a while if you have many subfolders under the parent.

Error when Running Exmerge.exe

2008-06-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today, I had a difficult time launching Exmerge, which is a cool little tool I might add. On lauch, I would receive an error message which read "This application has failed to start because EXCHMEM.dll was not found."

When you download Exmerge from Microsoft's site, you can extract the files anywhere you'd like. However, you can only extract it in one location for this tool to launch successfully. You'll want to extract the Exmerge files to C:\Program Files\exchsrvr\bin\. Any other location will generate the error message above.

Prevent Windows Messenger from Starting at Launch

2008-06-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

The other day, I noticed that Windows Messenger started launching again when I logged onto my computer at home. Playing around in Group Policy, I found a setting that would prevent it from starting up.

Open the Local Group Policy Editor. You can do this by clicking Start -> Run -> type in 'gpedit.msc' -> click OK.
Navigate to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Messenger.
Right click on the setting that reads 'Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially' -> Select Properties -> Enabled -> OK.
Restart your computer.

Office 2007: Initializing the Places Bar

2008-05-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

In Office applications, when you initiate a Save As command, you may experience a window that pops up and says "Initializing the Places Bar". During this time, it can take a a few seconds to a few minutes to bring up the Save As window that you're expecting to see.

What is happening is the Office application, whether it be Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, is trying to find any network drives that you have mapped. If it can find the network drives, then this process will be fast. However, if it can't find the network path, then the process have to time out and then the Save As dialog box will come up. If you have multiple network drives that can't be reached, this can take a very frustratingly long time to time out and complete.

To correct this:

Make sure that all of your network drives are able to be accessed. If they can't be accessed, you'll want to disconnect the drive or make sure that it's accessible.
If you have group policy in place, then you'll want to review your policies and make sure that there are no places bar locations that can't be accessed. You'll need to have your systems administrator, or whoever manages your group policy look at this, but it can be found in the Group Policy Management Editor under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Classic Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2007 system > File Open/Save dialog box > Places Bar Locations.

In my environment, we had an entry in group policy for the Places Bar Location that pointed to a server that no longer existed. Once that key was disabled and the changes were reflected on all of the domain controllers, I rebooted my system and the Save As command ran lightning fast.

Clear Outlook AutoComplete Cache

2008-05-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

This tip is especially useful if you've sent an email to someone, but accidentally misspelled their email address. Clearing the cache will delete this entry and allow you to create another entry that is correct.

Quit Microsoft Outlook.
Click on Start -> Run
Type in %appdata%\microsoft\outlook.
Delete the file [profile name].n2k.
Relaunch Outlook.

Outlook will then create a new .n2k file to store your cache.

Linux: Whats the Super Button?

2008-05-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

In the Linux world, the super button will be your Windows key on your keyboard.

Setup Windows Machines as Media Servers for Playstation 3

2008-05-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

If you want to play your MP3 collection that you have stored on your computer on your Playstation 3, you can setup your Windows machine to act as a media server. This will allow you to access all of your MP3, so that you can play them on your TV through your Playstation 3. You will be able to view your pictures and videos on your computer as well. The setup is really simple, and literally takes about 2 minutes.

Launch Windows Media Player 11.
Right Click on the Library tab and select Media Sharing.
Check the option Share My Media.
On your Playstation 3,under Photos, Music, or Video, select Search for Media Servers.
Go back to your PC, you should see a screen that says that an unknown device is trying to connect. Allow the device, and you should now be able to play your files on your Playstation.

Disable Firefox Extension Install Timer

2008-05-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Whenever you install an extension for Firefox, Firefox makes you wait for about 5 seconds before you can click the install button. Its somewhat of a mechanism to protect you from malicious websites...and in some cases protect you from yourself.

You can disable this timer, but remember to be very careful.

In the URL field, type in about:config and press enter.
Search for security.dialog_enable_delay.
Double click on this entry, and set its value to 0.

You then can install extensions without having to wait.

Video Games aren't Toys

2008-05-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yup. That's right. According to Best Buy, video games aren't toys. My mom gave me a coupon for Best Buy which was good for 10% off any single item. This coupon was only good for items in certain categories. The coupon had a variety of categories that it was good for. While it didn't explicitly say that video games were included, it didn't explicitly say that they weren't included. They did list "Toys" as being eligible. With that, I did a search for "Toy" on Best Buy's website. What I came up with was a list of video games.

I do know that someone else had the same experience a few months ago, and I wasn't quite sure if I was going to have the same experience that they did, so I gave it a shot. I should have known better that even though someone else had the same experience a few months ago that Best Buy wouldn't have done anything to correct this issue. To me, its a bit deceitful, but hey, thats the Best Buy quality of service that we've all come to expect.

Well, Best Buy, one less customer for you for good.

VMware Infrastructure Client could not establish the initial connection

2008-05-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

After upgrading VMWare Virtual Center to version 2.5, I received a message that read

VMWare Infrastructure Client could not establish the initial connection

To correct this error, you would need to log onto the VirtualCenter server and make sure that VMWare VirtualCenter Service is running. After I started this service, I was able to connect to the VirtualCenter Server to maintain my guest OSes.

Delete Files that are in Use in Windows

2008-05-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you try to delete a file, but the file is in use, you will likely get an error message that reads

The action can't be completed because the file is open in another program.

What this boils down to is that you need to figure out which process is using the file. A good utility to figure this out is called Process Explorer. Process Explorer is basically Task Manager, but all juiced up on steroids.

Process Explorer is really a powerful tool, but figuring out which process is using a file is actually quite simple.

Click the Find menu at the top and select Find Handle or DLL.
In the windows that opens up, type in the name of the file that you want to delete and then click Search.
Below, a list will show which processes are using that particular file.
You can then close that particular application/process and try the delete again.
Optionally, you can find the process in the process list, kill that process tree, then delete the file.