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showing posts tagged with 'software'
Quick Launch bar in Windows 7
by lunarg on September 28th 2011, at 16:59
Since Windows 7, the Quick Launch bar has been removed from the taskbar, and the pinning of applications has been introduced as a replacement. Not everyone likes this new feature, or perhaps you want to have the old Quick Launch bar back anyway. Well, it can be restored, albeit with a bit of a workaround.

The Quick Launch bar in earlier versions of Windows in fact nothing more than a folder containing shortcuts. With this in mind, it's in fact quite easy to add the Quick Launch bar, in this case as a regular folder.

First, unlock the taskbar. You need this to move over the Quick Launch bar once it's added, and to access its settings to actually make the toolbar look like the old Quick Laun  ...
 
Use diskpart to extend NTFS partitions in Windows 2003
by lunarg on September 28th 2011, at 12:48
When running virtual Windows 2003 systems (e.g. in VMware), it's sometimes necessary to increase the size of the disks to add more storage to your machine. Starting from Windows 2008, you can perform an online increase of NTFS partitions using Storage Manager. In Windows 2003, it's also possible to perform an online extend by using diskpart from the command line.

First, make sure to extend the physical volume (e.g. by increasing the virtual disk size in VMware). Then open a command prompt and run diskpart without parameters.

To extend, you have to select the physical disk and volume. To know what to select, you can view the available disks and volumes.

List and select the physical disk:

  ...
 
Postfix: block SMTP access by IP
by lunarg on September 28th 2011, at 12:23
If you wish to restrict SMTP access via IP addresses or a network range, one way to do it would be via Postfix configuration. You can set up restrictions using a Postfix hash-table or via a cidr file. You can choose one or both methods to perform the restrictions. The end-result will be the same.

Create a text file with the addresses you would like to reject. You can choose whatever file name you wish. E.g.: /etc/postfix/smtp_client_access

Its content should be something like:

192.168.0.1 REJECT Stop mailing us192.168.0.2 REJECT Stop mailing us192.168.1 REJECT Stop mailing us

Next, postmap it by running:

postmap /etc/postfix/smtp_client_access

Then add/edit this in your main.cf:

smtpd  ...
 
Disable IP autoconfiguration (APIPA) in Windows
by lunarg on September 28th 2011, at 10:56
IP autoconfiguration (also known as APIPA) configures a network interface with an IP address if no fixed IP has been specified, and there's no DHCP server on the network. In this case, an automatic IP will be assigned out of a private range (usually 169.254.x.x). APIPA exists on all Windows version (safe Windows NT).

In case you wish to disable APIPA on a certain interface, you can use the Windows registry to do this. By default, APIPA is enabled on all interfaces, unless it is explicitly disabled.

Fire up regedit. Navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\adapter clsid, where adapter clsid is the ID of your adapter. If you only h  ...
 
Show desktop and Window switcher in Windows 7
by lunarg on September 24th 2011, at 15:53

For those using the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7 and have "misplaced" their Show Desktop and Window Switcher icons, can download the shortcuts in the attached archive to replace them.

 
Running WordPerfect 9 on Terminal Server
by lunarg on September 8th 2011, at 14:03

If you're planning on running WordPerfect 9 on a Terminal Server, be sure to provide full access for your users on the registry key HKLM\Software\COREL (64-bit: HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\COREL).

This fixes the Cannot initialize error when starting WP as a regular user.

 
Burning an install DVD of Mac OS X Lion
by lunarg on September 2nd 2011, at 13:01
Apple has decided that the latest release of their OS, Mac OS X Lion (10.7), is no longer available as an install media. New systems have a recovery partition (called a Recovery HD) with the installation files, and those with earlier versions of the OS (Leopard and Snow Leopard) have to buy it via the App Store as a download.

The last scenario is in fact a hassle if you ever want to reinstall your Mac: prior to installing Lion, you have to install Snow Leopard, then all the updates, before finally downloading Lion. It would be so much easier if one could just install Lion from scratch.

Luckily, there's a way to create an install DVD yourself very easily: the install image is available insi  ...
 
Manually configure Exchange Online in Outlook
by lunarg on September 2nd 2011, at 12:49
If you are not able to configure Outlook using the Microsoft Online Sign-in Tool for some reason, there's a way to do it manually.

For this to work, you need the following:

a working internet connection (duh);

your username and password;

your storage location (usually closest to your HQ).

First off, we need the mailbox store server. To find this, you have to log in to Outlook Web Access. Your ICT department should already have given you information on how to do this. If not, use one of the following urls, depending on your location:

Asia Pacific (APAC): https://red003.mail.apac.microsoftonline.com/owa

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA): https://red002.mail.emea.microsoftonline  ...
 
Recreate missing Show Desktop icon
by lunarg on August 30th 2011, at 12:13

If the Show Desktop icon is deleted from Quick Launch, the procedure below will recreate the file.

Open Notepad and enter the following text:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the new file as Show Desktop.scf (note the SCF extension) then drag and drop the icon on the Quick Launch bar or whatever location you want the shortcut to appear.

 
Getting rid of IMAP namespaces in Thunderbird
by lunarg on July 5th 2011, at 13:16

By default, Thunderbird shows the namespaces of IMAP folders as a seperate folder containing the subfolders belonging to that namespace. An example of this is when you use Google Mail and have IMAP access configured.

An add-on exists for Thunderbird which gets rid of the namespace folder and sorts all subfolders in the root tree:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/flat-folder-tree/

This is particularly useful for Google Mail where the sent mail, trash and other system folders are stored in a namespace called [GMail]. This way, these folders are stored directly in the root of the tree rather than in a subfolder named after the namespace.

 
Fix EXE file association
by lunarg on June 27th 2011, at 11:59

In case of an infection with phony anti-spyware software (such as Anti Spyware 2009), where the EXE file association has been corrupted, use these Registry fixes to reset them to default behaviour.

Notice
Be sure to select the right file for your system. XP, Vista and 7 all have different settings.

 

 
Gather IBM DSA info from an ESXi server
by lunarg on June 23rd 2011, at 16:29
It is possible to gather DSA data from an IBM server running ESXi without having to boot with a bootable CD or reboot the server at all.

From any machine, Windows or linux, you can run the latest release of the DSA tool, then reference the ESXi server using commandline parameters when running the DSA tool.

In order for this to work, you need to put the ESXi server in remote technical support mode. This is done via the ESXi console.

Once activated, download and run the latest tool on your favourite platform (for Windows, choose the Windows version, etc.). Rather than opening running it by simply launching the application, fire up a command prompt and launch it with parameters.

>ibm_utl  ...
 
Windows XP TCP/IP simultaneous connections patch
by lunarg on June 17th 2011, at 13:54

Found this tool on some obscure site (don't even know where anymore). It's the most easy-to-use patcher to remove the TCP/IP simultaneous connections limit in Windows XP.

I've uploaded it on my site because I can't find the download link anymore*.

* If anyone has a problem with me mirroring it here, contact me through regular channels.

 
Automated backup of PostgreSQL in linux
by lunarg on June 5th 2011, at 13:17

To have scripted automated backup of PostgreSQL databases on a linux platform, you can create a script like so:

#!/bin/bash
PGPASSWORD="your-password" /usr/bin/pg_dump -U user database > sql-file.sql

Replace user and your-password with your username and password; replace database with the database you want to backup. The output of the dump goes to stdout and can be piped to a plain text file or compressed to something else.

 
Import/export mail in Thunderbird
by lunarg on June 5th 2011, at 13:09

A plugin for Thunderbird exists for easy import and export of mails in all sorts of formats. It is available for all platforms and can be downloaded here:

One of the features is the ability to import entire folders and subfolders containing mails in .eml format.

 
Additional libraries in iPhoto
by lunarg on May 20th 2011, at 11:20

It is possible to have multiple iPhoto libraries, and not just one. To create a new library, hold down the Option (⌥) key while starting iPhoto. This will prompt you to create a new library or open an existing one.

Alternatively, you can also use iPhoto Buddy, which allows you to easily select libraries from a nice GUI.

 
Drive letter position in Explorer (Vista / 7)
by lunarg on April 27th 2011, at 12:18
You can reconfigure the position of the driver letter in Explorer in Vista and Windows 7.

Before (XP and earlier), the driver letter would always be shown as first. Since Vista, this behaviour has been changed, but can luckily be controlled by a registry setting.

To change the setting, fire up regedit, and edit/create a DWORD value, called ShowDriveLettersFirst in the root of the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. This controls how drive letters are displayed in Explorer. The values are:

0 (default): displayed after the label;

1 (mixed): depending on the drive type, they are displayed before or after the label;

2 (none): show no drive lett  ...
 
Cannot delete data store of freshly installed ESXi
by lunarg on April 4th 2011, at 15:51
With the installation of VMware ESXi 4, data stores will automatically be created using the default settings. This includes a block size of 1 MB. If you don't want that, you could delete the empty datastore and create a new one.

Sometimes, deleting the empty datastore fails with the message:

Quote
Call "HostDatastoreSystem.RemoveDatastore" for object "ha-datastoresystem" on ESXi "xx.xx.xx.xx" failed.

VMware's KB 1017104 provides the solution for another problem, but this works just as well with this issue, with a little variation.

Notice
Performing the steps in this solution will totally utterly destroy your data store. Do not use it if there's still any req  ...
 
Delete a protected OU in Windows 2008 AD
by lunarg on March 9th 2011, at 09:36
Since Windows 2008, it is possible to protect OUs from being deleted accidentally. This feature is enabled by default when creating new OUs in AD Users and Computers.



If a container is marked as protected from accidental deletion, you get an error message when trying to delete it.



To unlock the OU, you have to enable Advanced Features from the View menu. This will provide you with extra stuff to set. One of these is the ability to turn off the accidental deletion protection.



Right-click the OU you wish to delete and select Properties. Navigate to the Object tab (which would not be present if Advanced Features wasn't enabled). Uncheck the checkbox saying Protect object fro  ...
 
Everything you need to set up and use VDI for free
by lunarg on March 8th 2011, at 10:28

Everything you need to set up and use VDI for free...

That's what Citrix is providing nowadays with XenDesktop Express. It provides full VDI for up to 10 users, and can work with XenServer, Hyper-V and VMware.

The full link to everything is this one:
http://community.citrix.com/display/ocb/2011/02/04/Virtually%20Everything%20You%20Need%20to%20Set%20Up%20and%20Use%20VDI%20for%20Free

 
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