TIPS: How to Install Microsoft Apploc in Windows 7

Sometimes, you may want to run some older software on your Windows 7, which requires the use of Microsoft Application Locale tool (apploc). You will notice a normal installation seems hopelessly failed. Here's how you may install it.

STEPS:

1. Download apploc.msi from Microsoft's website
2. Press Windows Start, in "Search Programs and Files", type "cmd"
3. The command prompt tool "cmd.exe" shows on list, right click on it "Run as administrator"
4. Using this command prompt window, go to the folder where you've stored your apploc.msi.
5. Type "apploc.msi" to start the installation
6. You should be able to finish the installation wizard

SOVLED! - Missing "Search Programs and Files" in Windows 7

A very convenient way to start a program and search for files in Windows 7 is by using the "Search programs and files", by clicking on the Windows button (bottom left corner).

In some installations, this valuable feature is gone. To bring it back, do this:

1. Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features
2. Left hand side, click on Turn Windows features on or off
3. From the Windows Feature list, check "Windows Search", press OK.
4. Reboot your computer and the feature is back.

Notes & Tips - Search programs and files
By typing the program or key word, you can quickly access to many important programs, features and tools of Windows. Common programs key word like "command", "management", "manager", "information", "log", etc. are command keywords that many network administrators will use.

Another great use is that when the program is shown on list, you can HOLD Shift + right click on the item to run the program as a different user.

Some programs are not so easy to access without the help of the "Search programs and files", such as the Snipping Tool and Credential Manager. If you type "environment" as the search word, Windows will give you choice of accessing two sets of environment variables.

HOW TO - Set Permanent Environment Variables in Windows 7

Sometimes, certain programs may need to set and read user or system environment variables. However, the problem is if you just run a batch to set those values, they'll only be available in the command prompt session. We need a way to write permanently the environment variables.

Some may suggest using Power shell scripts, modifying registry, or writing VB codes. However, I found using the built-in command of Windows - the setx command - the easiest and cleanest in doing the job.

Here's what Microsoft said, "[setx] Creates or modifies environment variables in the user or system environment, without requiring programming or scripting. The Setx command also retrieves the values of registry keys and writes them to text files...

...

• Setx provides the only command-line or programmatic way to directly and permanently set system environment values. System environment variables are manually configurable through Control Panel or through a registry editor. The set command, which is internal to the command interpreter (Cmd.exe), sets user environment variables for the current console window only."

Reference:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755104(v=ws.10).aspx


Setx command applies to Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows 7, these are platforms very widely used.

The exciting thing of setx is, especially for network administrators, that it supports setting environment variables remotely. Otherwise, you will have to go to each machine and adjust the Environment Variables in the Computer Properties. You may also put these setx commands in your login scripts for your Windows users to run when they logon Windows.

TIPS - Advanced Use of Remote Desktop

Have a need to figure out how to monitor various servers in a domain, using Remote Desktop is a great idea. Here're some commonly used commands and tips that may help:

To start remote desktop client, run this command (simply stands for microsoft terminal server client):

    mstsc

If you want to set the screen size, try this:

    mstsc /w=1920 /h=1200
w is the screen width, while h is the screen height

In case the remote computer has multiple monitors, try this:

    mstsc /span

Sometimes, administrators would like to have full interaction with the remote computer. There're actually 2 modes in remote client connection, namely (1) virtual mode and (2) admin mode. If you want to start the full interaction mode:

    mstsc /admin or mstsc /console

As network administrator, often we want to monitor multiple servers at the same time. This will be very handy:

    tsmmc.msc

With tsmmc.msc, you can connect to multiple computers, save your settings and reuse connections the next time you start it.

For those who would like to check the list of active connections on a certain computer, try this:

    quser /server:RemoteServerName

For those who wants to tweak the your connection performance, check and create these subkeys of the entry if they are missing:

• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermDD\FlowControlDisable (DWORD 32bit, 1 to disable)
• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermDD\FlowControlDisplayBandwidth (DWORD 32bit, priority to display and input, default 70, maximum 255)
• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermDD\FlowControlChannelBandwidth (DWORD 32bit, priority to other data like file transfer and print job, default 30, maximum 255)
• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermDD\FlowControlChargePostCompression (bandwidth calculation based on pre-compressed size or post-compressed size, 0 is pre-compressed size)

Notes: Remote Desktop is a great way to monitor and remote control servers. But, often network administrators or computer help desk needs to view and even control a computer with the user sharing same view. Then, Windows Remote Assistance should be the tool to use. Try this command:
    msra /offerra

TIPS - Installing Ubuntu Linux

To make your own Ubuntu Linux system, I'll recommend you download the ISO image and the software tool unetbootin (site: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/). Get a SanDisk 8GB USB thumbrive, by default it's FAT32 formatted, which is fully supported in Ubuntu Linux.

When creating your boot thumb, remember to setup some storage space for your user data. Otherwise, your installed sessions and personal data will be lost in your next boot. For me, I recommend 4GB for data storage.

The whole process is pretty straight forward, surely you're smart enough to get it started.

After install, you may go to the Software Centre to install other software like Skype, VLC video player, etc. You'll be happy that printer drivers are well supported. To my surprise, Windows Remote Desktop Client is fully supported!!

SOLVED! - "no default or UI configuration directive found"

After creating an bootable USB thumbdrive of Ubuntu Linux, the resulting thumbdrive can't boot, with the error message "no default or UI configuration directive found".

Google the error message found a number of reasons described by other users, like:

• FAT32 / FAT16 issue
• corrupted ISO image file
• configuration file issues

However, in my case the reason is none of the above. If you're using Pendrivelinux to create your USB bootable drive, the chance is that the tool itself causes the error.

SOLUTION: Use unetbootin - http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Give it a try!

Cloning to a Smaller Hard Disk

Have a special need to clone a current 320GB hard disk to a smaller disk (80GB)... after researching, download and test quite a number of disk cloning software available in the market, this is my choice -

EASEUS Todo Backup Home 2.0, which is free for home use.

Download link: http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

It works efficiently, with a very easy to use GUI. The most important is, unlike other freeware, it supports cloning to a smaller disk, which involves more complicated functionality (resizing of partitions).

Highly recommended for Home Users!

Working on the iPAQ H3950

Someone has recently given me an old Compaq iPAQ to see if anything could be done to make it workable, well... anyway... just to give it a try...

Change the OS from Traditional Chinese to English
Google a lot, and many people say using MTTY to upgrade the ROM - no success, with error message "...error connecting to Host".

Then, I found an easy way - simply download the English ROM from HP's website. Then, open the ".nbf" file with an editor like "UltraEdit" (download the trial version will do). Look at the very first line of the ".nbf" file, which is the ROM file. Change the language identifier text, e.g. "ENG", to the language in your current PDA, such as "CHT". This will fool the upgrade program that it's a Chinese ROM!

Now, run the upgrade program and follow the upgrade instructions. Done!


 "error occured while formatting storage card folder (error code 31)
Read many posts on forums that iPAQ 3900 series not support 2GB SD card. In fact, in my test 2GB SD card is fully supported. Check if your card is formatted with FAT.

However, many have experienced the error code 31 when inserting their SD card into slot, including me. The slot is either unstable or simply stop reading any card. What I found out is that the slot has a pin crooked! Get a torch and see if this is the cause of your IPAQ not reading any SD card...

In my case, what I did is to open the iPAQ case and straighten the pin of the SD card slot. Now, it works again!!

Redo Backup & Recovery

Clone Your Hard Disk over network, by using Redo Backup & Recovery

If you're a network admin, or have a need to build PC systems in sizable quantity, the concept of system hard disk cloning should not be anything new. Names like "Ghost",  "Clonezilla" and "Acronis True Image" are just some examples of cloning software available. However, your budget may be limited, or you feel Clonezilla too complicated to setup.

Recently, I came across a not-so-well-known name – “Redo Backup & Recovery”, and it really worth your consideration, even for serious network administrators. Benefits of this tool include – easy to use yet powerful, platform independent, support backup and restore over network, and FREE FOR PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL USE!

With advancement in network bandwidth and speed, it's now practical to clone drives through network. Here below outlines the steps to clone over network:

Steps to Generate Boot CD

1. Go to this site and download the ISO file to make a boot CD: http://redobackup.org/download.php
2. Use the generated CD to boot a laptop/computer, choose “Enhance Video”* (in my case, my two laptops need to choose this mode to start properly)

*try other video modes if can't go enhanced

Steps to Make an Image Over Network

1. After boot at Home, choose Home-Backup or Restore. Choose Backup.
2. In “Step 1: Select Source Drive”, select the drive to clone and press Next.
3. In “Step 2: Select Partitions to Save”, check the partitions you want to clone. Press Next.
4. In “Step 3: Select Destination Drive”, choose “Shared over a network”
5. In “Server or share location”, enter your server IP address and sharefolder. Example: “//192.168.1.100/share”, where 192.168.1.100 is your server and the sharefolder “share” stores your clone source images.
6. In “Username”, enter the user name to access the sharefolder. Example: “my-pc/tony”, where “my-pc” is your server computer name and “tony” is the user name.
7. In “Password”, provide password. Unless you have a Domain, otherwise just leave the “Domain” field blank.
8. Press “Next”, and provide the folder for storing the cloned image files. Press Save Here.
9. … now very straight forward…

Steps to Restore Over Network

1. Once started at Home, choose Home-Backup or Restore. Choose Restore.
2. In “Step 1: Select Source Drive”, choose “Shared over a network”
3. In “Server or share location”, enter your server IP address and sharefolder. Example: “//192.168.1.100/share”, where 192.168.1.100 is your server and the sharefolder “share” stores your clone source images.
4. In “Username”, enter the user name to access the sharefolder. Example: “my-pc/tony”, where “my-pc” is your server computer name and “tony” is the user name.
5. In “Password”, provide password. Unless you have a Domain, otherwise just leave the “Domain” field blank.
6. Press “Next”, click on the folder icon and browse to the image file you want to restore from. Press “Open”* (*if network share not found, double check computer name/IP, username and password; also try disable the firewall of the server)

…
I think the rest you can figure out by yourself, very straight forward.

Limitation:

• Can't resize the clone destination partitions, so you must clone a smaller disk to a larger disk but not the other way round

Remarks:

• You may need to go to Home-Network (Setup wired connection) and setup your network first. Simply choose DHCP if it’s available, or self fixed a static IP address.
• If you see a BLANK screen, move your mouse to the top right corner and click on the [X].
• Do not use “\”, instead use “/”. For example, “//192.168.1.100/share” instead of \\192.168.1.100\share
• You may need to make a boot CD for each laptop
• The “server” which shares the clones files can be a simple Windows PC with a shared folder
• Bootable USB drive is supported, boot from a CD and use its built-in tool to create one

Benchmark:

• Clone over network a 80GB HDD with around 6GB system data takes about 7 mins, using low-end D-Link Gigabit switching.

How to keep track of your IT inventory?

Another big headache of every IT admin, how to keep track your IT inventory? If you don't have the budget for a big software, here's a freeware, which may be exactly what you need:

Go to http://www.frostbow.com/downloads/index.shtml and download their Frostbow Home Inventory lite version and install it.

It tracks some important data:

-        Item name, serial number, warranty period, acquired date, manufacturer, ...

-        category, condition, item value, even item pictures ...

I love its simplicity and single database file design (very portable). The spreadsheet like “Grid view” give a quick view to the inventory list.

Now, you might want to change field names, adjust default values, … Yes, you can! Download their  full trial version and use it to make all the adjustments you like. Save the settings and just continue to use the “lite” version to do your daily business!

If you start to love this great tool, your appreciation might move you to buy their full version product to benefit from the full functionality of it.