How to prevent MCE remote from accessing XBOX 360

Configure your Xbox 360 console so that you can use a Windows Media Center remote control to control Windows Media Center functions on your console. Here’s how:
Note You can't use this remote to adjust the volume level of the console.

1. On your console, go to settings and select System.
2. Select Console Settings.
3. Scroll down, and select Remote Control.
4. Select XBOX 360 REMOTE (not BOTH REMOTES).
5. Press B on your controller to return to Xbox Home.

• If the console is turned off, press Start on the Windows Media Center remote control to turn it on and to start Windows Media Center.
• If the console is turned on, press Start to go straight to Windows Media Center.

Note The Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote is the best way to access all functions of Windows Media Center and the Xbox 360 console. It includes TV controls and Windows Media Center controls.

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/windows-media-center/windows-media-center-use-remote-control

ASUS G1Sn-x1 with 8GB RAM

After much researching I finally took the plunge and upgraded my
G1Sn-x1 to 8 GB of RAM and am happy to report it booted without a
hitch!  Windows 7 64bit sees the entire 8GB ! It looks like my concerns
about the chipset limitations have been proven otherwise.

I used Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 8 GB set of 2 4x2 modules.

Enable AHCI support in Windows Vista/7/8

If you have installed Win7 on an existing PC, and suddenly find yourself needing or wishing to
take advantage if the enhanced performance from ACHI (over legacy IDE)... 

In regedit, go to HKLM:SYSTEM:CurrentControlSet:services\msahci

Click on Start, choose MODIFY, and set the value to zero.

Shutdown regedit, shutdown Windows, power cycle PC and go to your system BIOS setup
and enable your controllers AHCI support and save the config.

Boot into Windows, it will load an AHCI driver.  Reboot again and the machine will be
running in AHCI mode.

AOL webmail crashes with IE 11

For those of you still paying AOL to get email (why I don't know) and if you are having
issues where IE crashes as soon as you login to AOL Mail... where it says "IE has stopped responding"...  remove IE11 and go back to IE 8... it seems to be the only IE that works
with AOL Mail.

I had tried resetting IE back to factory, clearing caches and all that, updating Java, modifying compatibility settings, disabled helpers and plugins... all on a fresh install of Win7 Pro... nothing worked. I noticed on another machine that IE8 would bring up AOL successfully.

So, I removed the update that installed IE11, ran IE8.. and it worked... AOL Mail now
comes up without crashing.

Itunes crashes with R6027 Pure Virtual Function Call or Itunes has Stopped Working

I have had numerous issues with Itunes 64 bit 11.1.38 (and other previous versions) locking up and crashing upon start with "Itunes has stopped working" or "R6027 pure virtual function call".  I have researched the answers around the forums as well as having tried some extensive and repetitious troubleshooting myself and thought I'd list them here... in order of troubleshooting...



1. Install all Windows updates and reboot.  This seems to clear issues from time-to-time... I suspect Itunes expects the latest-and-greatest as far as Windows is concerned.. see if this clears your issue.

2. Remove the contents of your "Iphone photo cache" (or other related product)  directory...

3. Try editing the shortcut properties and configure the shortcut (for all users) to run as Administrator.

4. Try editing the shortcut and configure it to run in Compatibility Mode for Windows 7 (for all users).

5. Uninstall all Itunes and Apple products; reboot, remove their directories, remove lingering Itunes registry entries, reboot again, reinstall using "RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR" to install the Itunes executable. See if this allows Itunes to stabilize.  Please be sure to use the following guide from Apple as far as removing the apps and directories are concerned...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1923

NOTE: If you are having issues with accessing ITunes STORE, try reinstalling the latest QuickTime player.

6. a.Try using MSCONFIG to locate a potential conflicting application or service using the following...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2292

or



6. b. Remove the last recent software application(s) you may have installed... in my case removing GREENSHOT http://getgreenshot.org/  stopped my Itunes from crashing on startup and it stabilized after driving me nuts for weeks.

Small Business Server 2003 with Win7 client account lockout

I recently added a WIndows 7 Pro 64 bit client to an SBS 2003 AD domain.  After which, every time the Win7 client reboot/went into standby/screenlocked then the domain account would get locked out.

After several attempts I was able to rectify the issue by disabling SBS Account lockout policy...

Open Server Management.

1. In the console tree, click Advanced Management, right-click Group Policy Management, and then click Add forest.
2. In the Add forest dialog box, enter the domain name. When prompted Do you want to add this forest with this domain?, click Yes.
3. In the console tree, under Group Policy Management, click Forest:forestname, click Domains, right-click Small Business Server (Account) Lockout Policy, and then click Edit.
4. In Group Policy Object Editor, click Computer Configuration, click Windows Settings, and then click Security Settings.
5. Under Security Settings, click Account Policies, and then click Account Lockout Policy.
6. In the details pane, double-click each of the following policies, and modify settings as needed: Account lockout duration, Account lockout threshold, and Reset account lockout counter after.
7. I SET ACCOUNT LOCKOUT THRESHOLD TO ZERO.
8. Click Apply, click OK, and then close Group Policy Object Editor.
9. Close Group Policy Management.

If you also need to disable Account audit... (I didn't have it set ) do the following...

1. Open Server Management.
2. In the console tree, click Advanced Management, right-click Group Policy Management, and then click Add forest.
3. In the Add forest dialog box, enter the domain name. When prompted Do you want to add this forest with this domain?, click Yes.
4. In the console tree, under Group Policy Management, click Forest:forestname, click Domains, right-click domainname, click Domain Controllers, right-click Small Business Server Auditing Policy, and then click Edit.
5. In Group Policy Object Editor, click Computer Configuration, click Windows Settings, click Security Settings, and then click Local Policies.
6. Under Security Settings, click Local Policies, and then click Audit Policy.
7. In the details pane, double-click Audit logon events, and modify settings as needed.
8. Click Apply, click OK, and then close Group Policy Object Editor.
9. Close Group Policy Management.

Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709)

Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709) when trying to set default printer in Win7...

Turns out an old printer (defunct yet still in registry somehow) was still there...

Fixed by setting permissions to key...

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows

To FULL.  Then renamed key ..\Windows as ..\windows.x and restarted print spooler
service.. the default printer setting then worked normally.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/57d9e420-0ea2-4561-a7cc-2fd33da792ae/

ASUS G1Sn-x1 with T9300 and 8GB RAM

I was able to successfully and easily upgrade my ASUS laptop to an Intel T9300 Core2 Duo

CPU... was a very easy swap.. cost me 50 bucks to extend the life of this awesome gaming lappy.

Hybrid SSD is also onboard...

ASUS G1Sn-x1 also upgraded to 8GB RAM, seen in BIOS and reported by Windows 7 64bit.

Used Corsair Valueselect 8GB 2x4 kit.

Lenovo T60 Bad Option ROM PXE-E05 Error

If you are having issues with your T60 Lenovo or similar laptop with a corrupted NIC Option ROM, I was able to fix it by resetting the ROM to default.

Download Intel BOOTUTIL here...
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=19186

Create a FreeDOS bootable USB using RUFUS...
http://rufus.akeo.ie

Copy the \Intel###\APPS\BootUtil\DOS\bootutil.exe file to the USB drive and boot up
the laptop with it...

Run "bootutil -CFGDEF - ALL" and then power cycle.. it will be fixed.

SERVER 2008 R1 SLOW RESPONSE

If you are having issues with a fresh install of 2008 Server (I was using R1 64 bit)...
I found that network issues can seriously hamper performance on this operating system.

This forum entry helped me enormously in disabling the network features that were
hampering performance, eventually found to be a DSL broadband access issue.

Apparently 2008 server R1 stability is very dependent upon network stability.

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/126458-very-slow-everything-server-2008-ent-64-bit/

Win7 Domain Client accessing WinXP share

For some reason Microsoft makes it a royal piain in the ass for a Win7 domain client to attach to a
WinXP share...  I had a Win7 Enterprise client on a domain attaching to a shared WinXP Pro SP3 client on that same domain.. nothing worked.  I tried the following...

On XP shared client, disabled simple file sharing.
On Win7 attaching client, set Administrative Tools... Local Security Policy... Security Options...  Network Security LAN Manager Authentication Level to "use LM & LMNT as well as negotiate LMNTv2".  Also set Network Discovery to ON and allowed lower level encryption support.

When that all still didnt work... I did the following...

On the XP shared client, I created a new network share...
I then created a local account called shareaccess with local Administrator group priviledge and added that user to the shares access list, having with full permissions.
On the Win7 attaching client, I created a Generic Credential pointing to the IP address of the XP machine, using the shareaccess account and password I just created.

Worked like a charm.

DELL laptop force BIOS update

Recently I needed to troubleshoot a battery charging issue with an Inspiron 1700 series dual core laptop... as the battery was no longer recognized by the laptop.  Is suspect the message "battery not recognized" also means the one of the cells is bad in the battery, moreso than it being a suspect or knockoff battery. 

Anyway, one of the troubleshooting steps was to upgrade the laptop BIOS, but thats a catch22 as the
BIOS update requires a 10% charged battery and AC power concurrent during upgrade.

There is a verified process that I found... create a DOS bootable image on USB or other bootable media, making sure of a clean boot (NO drivers or shared memory managers running),  and once booted into it... run the BIOS update with the /forceit switch.  This bypassed the power check for me.

Network interface issues with Fedora

If you are having issues with Fedora (I was using v10) interfaces (such as eth0) staying up after reboot when assigned static IP, there are several things that must be checked for you to stabilize connectivity...

1. Check the GUI network interface configurator to be sure all settings are correct.  Note that hostname is the machine name, not the FQDN.

2. Check the files in /etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default... this directory houses all your networking-related files relevant to the interfaces... check your hosts, resolve.conf, network, and ifcfg-XXX files to be sure they are correct.  Also, double-check the ifcfg-XXX files to be sure the netmask is correct, FC10 has a bug when using the GUI that inserts the gateway in the netmask field.

3. Run the commands "chkconfig NetworkManager off" and "chkconfig network on" to disable Network Manager and assure that default networking is activated in all runtime modes.  This was key to having interfaces come up as Network Manager is a buggy piece of garbage when using static IP.  

Make sure your ifcfg files look something like this...


ONBOOT=yes
USERCTL=yes
PEERDNS=yes
IPV6INIT=no
GATEWAY=135.112.66.1
TYPE=Ethernet
DEVICE=eth1
HWADDR=00:1c:c0:98:62:21
BOOTPROTO=none
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=135.112.66.94
DNS1=135.222.4.10
DNS2=135.222.4.11
DOMAIN=domain.com
NM_CONTROLLED=no

COMCAST BUSINESS INTERNET ROUTER BRIDGE MODE

Login with default 10.1.10.1 login cusadmin:highspeed (SMC type)
put it in "modem/bridge" mode by:

ON FIREWALL TAB
check off Disable Firewall for True Static IP
check off Disable Gateway Smart Packet Detection

ON LAN TAB
Uncheck Enable LAN DHCP (this turns off DHCP but you can still get to 10.1.10.1 IP privately...)
Now you can plug in a Linksys to one of the 4 ports and set it and do NAT

GETTY IMAGES Cease and Desist

Yesterday I was contacted by Getty Images concerning a single thumbnail sized computer-related photo I had used on my website... the letter stated the photo was their property and that I must...

1. Cease using the photo, which I immediately did.
2. Pay a fee of $800.00 to then settle the dispute.

Apparently this is a similar tactic to the one used by Monster Cable, RIAA,
and other entities to scare people into ponying up cash. I am placing this
on my blog so others may become more aware of this kind of unethical behavior being used in the name of copyright enforcement.

To give you some details..

1. There was no indication nor marker on the image that gave it claim of
ownership nor copyright. No image rights nor record were found on it at all.

2. Getty Images has provided no information as to it's claim of copyright.
I was given no Library of Congress case # for the image or image set.

3. The image is very "generic" and could be confused for another image of
similar use or layout.

I strongly suggest others look over their websites to use images that are
freely licensed, and that you check with an attorney before forking
over money to Getty Images.

http://extortionletterinfo.com/
http://www.zyra.info/getstu.htm

Recoving Deleted email in Thunderbird

Thunderbird only deletes email when it "compacts" it's folders.
To restore deleted (pre-compacted) email in Thunderbird, locate the email store under...

C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles.

And open the .MSF file (there will be no association)...

Open it with notepad and do a global replace for
“X-Mozilla-Status: 0009″ replacing it with “X-Mozilla-Status: 0″
and save the file.

Move can be found here...
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-recover-deleted-emails-in-thunderbird/

Migrate Thunderbird Email to Outlook & Outlook Express

The program mbox-eml-extractor converts mailbox format for Thunderbird, Eudora, and Entourage into EML type usable by Outlook and Outlook Express.

http://www.outlookimport.com/mbox-eml-converter-extract-emails-mailbox-thunderbird-eudora-entourage/

To export the address book... export it as LDIF format, then use Outlook
Express to import the LDIF file.

Fix bad CDROM driver in WinXP (and other O/S)

If you encounter a situation where your CDROM hardware verifies good, but
you have a yellow triangle in device manager stating your hardware
is not available...

1) Close all open programs
2) Click on Start, Run, and type REGEDIT and press Enter
3) Click on the plus signs (+) next to the following folders
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* SYSTEM
* CurrentControlSet
* Control
* Class
* {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

4) This folder is the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class Description in the registry. Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.
* UpperFilters
* LowerFilters
* UpperFilters.bak
* LowerFilters.bak

5) If any of the above keys shown in step 4 are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete
6) After deleting the keys, close the Registry Editor
7) Reboot your computer



http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-25531-help-i-have-uninstalled-my-cd-dvd-rom-driver

Manually removing partitions in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415

Diskpart enables a superset of the actions that are supported by the Disk Management snap-in. The Disk Management snap-in prohibits you from inadvertently performing actions that may result in data loss. It is recommended that you use the Diskpart utility cautiously because Diskpart enables explicit control of partitions and volumes.

Why Bob Parsons of GoDaddy is an Ass Hat

Although I used to recommend GoDaddy for website hosting, once my term runs out I will no longer be using them, and I encourage all to not use them either. CEO Bob Parsons' stand on game hunting of endangered species to further his own zest for machismo and publicity is morally repugnant. I am appalled at the century he seems to be living in, and I am very disappointed.

If Mr. Parsons truly wished to help feed people in Africa, I would think there are better ways of doing so that promote sustainabilty and not animal slaughter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/bob-parsons-godaddy-ceo-elephant-hunt_n_843121.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/peta-closes-godaddy-account-after-ceo-shoots-elephant.html

UPDATE:  GoDaddy also supported the SOPA and PIPA bills against internet freedom...

http://godaddyboycott.org/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57350209-501465/did-go-daddy-sopa-boycott-work/