I ran into an issue the other day after upgrading some hardware components of our Exchange 2007 server. I was running through the usual connectivity tests after restarting the server and found that Outlook was prompting for authentication before syncing my mail with the server.
Searching through the logs pointed me in the direction of the Exchange services and sure enough one of the services had not started automatically as it should have. The service in question was the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant. Starting this service resolved the issue straight away. I have since restarted the server and the service continues to not start automatically. One to watch…
- Start -> Administrative Tools -> Services
- Right-Click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service
- Select Start from displayed context menu
I was working on a project that required the use of a mapped drive to a SAMBA share. This all went off without a hitch on my test PC running Windows 7 and I was about to tick the job off my list. But… when I attempted to replicate this on the staff members PC running Windows XP I ran into an issues with authenticating to the SAMBA share. I have read numerous pages and forums that provided many different ways around the issue. Below is what worked for me and allowed me to have the mapped drive reconnect at login without continuing to prompt the user for authentication:
- Edit the requiresignorseal registry setting:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters
- requiresignorseal - Change hex value from 1 to 0
- RESTART PC
- Map a drive to the SAMBA share and select “Reconnect at login“. Usually at this stage you would use the “Connect using a different user name” option. However, do not use this option as it will not allow you to save your credentials.
- Click Finish and you will be prompted for your credentials. Input your user name and password (SAMBA sever credentials) and select “Remember my details“.
As I mentioned there are numerous solutions out there to resolve this issue. This is just what worked for me…
There are a number excellent computer control iPhone/iPod Touch apps out there that come in various forms and have a multitude of amazing features. But… these apps all come at a price. For the user who simply wants to control their mouse and keyboard from there iPhone/iPod Touch for FREE, there is TouchMouse.
TouchMouse from Logitech allows you to control your computers mouse and keyboard in three easy steps:
1. Download and install the Logitech TouchMouse Server computer application (www.logitech.com/touchmouse)
- The server app is available for Windows XP/Vista/7 and OS X
2. Download the TouchMouse iPhone/iPod Touch app from the App Store.
3. Open TouchMouse on your iPhone or iPod Touch. The app will find any available computers on the same network that have the TouchMouse Server application installed.
Connect and enjoy!
The app has many options including; two finger scrolling, tracking and scrolling speeds and a nice settings for prohibiting your device to go into sleep mode.
At the school that I work for we have been using the Group Policy enabled version of Mozilla Forefox from FrontMotion for some time now. We have discussed the idea on several occasions whether or not to allow staff to install extensions. I have decided to set an allowed location (locally hosted) in group policy where staff can find approved extensions to install.
However, we still required the ability to control some of the settings within these extensions. I was able to achieve this by creating Group Policy ADM templates for these extensions. The ADM templates are written to control the about:config settings of the extension which can be found by browsing to about:config in Firefox and filtering for the desired extension. The preferences are set at as a MACHINE CLASS (Computer Policy) and are locked preferences. Below is an example and explanation of a couple of settings of an ADM template for the IEView extension (comments in red): [Complete ADM example attached at the end of this post]
- Define the CLASS type
CLASS MACHINE
- Set the main category name (folder under Administrative Templates in Group Policy)
CATEGORY “Mozilla Advanced Options for Extensions”
- Set the preferences to be locked preferences
KEYNAME “Software\Policies\Mozilla\lockPref”
- Set the category/extension name (level under main category)
CATEGORY “IEView”
Boolean type preference for the Close Page on Reload setting (On or OFF)
- POLICY = Setting name
POLICY “Close Page on Reload”
- EXPLAIN = Explanation of what the setting does
EXPLAIN “Enables or disables the close page after reload option”
- VALUENAME = about:config Preference Name for the setting
VALUENAME “ieview.closeReloadPage”
- VALUEON = The value for the setting when enabled in Group Policy
VALUEON 1
- VALUEOFF = The value for the setting when disabled in Group Policy
VALUEOFF 0
- END POLICY = Ends the options for the current setting
END POLICY
String type preference for the Filter List setting (string of values)
- POLICY = Setting name
POLICY “Filter List”
- EXPLAIN = Explaination of what the setting does
EXPLAIN “Sets list of sites to always open in IE. Sites are separated by spaces. Use * for wildcard.”
- PART = “list” EDITTEXT, sets the values for the “list” part of the setting and edits the current vales
PART “List” EDITTEXT
- DEFAULT = When the setting is enabled in Group Policy, the DEFAULT string values will automatically be filled in
DEFAULT “file:///* http://*update.microsoft.com/ http://www.windowsupdate.com/”
- VALUENAME = about:config Preference Name for the setting
VALUENAME “ieview.forceielist”
- END PART = Ends the options for the current PART of the setting
END PART
- END POLICY = Ends the options for the current setting
END POLICY
- END CATEGORY = Ends the extension name category
END CATEGORY
- END CATEGORY = Ends the main category
END CATEGORY
I hope that made at least a little bit of sense.
I have a Windows Server 2008 Virtual Machine setup on my VMware Server install for testing purposes. I had just about finished installing and configuring the OS when I attempted to install VMware Tools and receieved the follwing error:
VMware Tools is not supported on this guest OS.
Check the virtual machine’s configuration to make sure the settings match the installed operating system. Consult the documentation for more details about supported guest operating systems.
The Fix:
- Create a new VMware Datastore pointing to the VMware Server install directory %HOMEDRIVE%\Program Files\VMware\VMware Server
- Select the unsupported OS Virtual Machine and Edit the CD/DVD drive settings found under Hardware
- Select ISO Image and browse for the appropriate Operating Systems VMware Tools ISO file (in this case windows.iso)
- Click OK and restart the Virtual Machine
The ISO will now be mounted as the CD/DVD drive for the Virtual Machine - Browse the contents of the guest OS CD/DVD drive and run the VMware Tools setup (in this case setup.exe)
You will now have a fully functional install of VMware Tools on your unsupported OS.
Increase available PC’s using NComputing X550
Rationale:
Using the NComputing X550 virtual desktop device we can use the speed of a single PC to create five additional workstations. The NComputing PCI control card is installed into the host PC and each X550 device is then plugged into the host computer via this card to create an additional workstation. All that is then required to complete the workstation setup is a monitor, mouse and keyboard.
Each user then has access to the software installed on the host PC. USB ports on the host PC can be assigned for use on all or one of the virtual workstations. Users will be able to login using their normal Windows/Network credentials just as they would if they were using any other PC.
Pros & Cons:
| Pros: |
Cons: |
|
Cost effective |
If host is down, all workstations are also down |
|
Smaller hardware footprint |
|
|
Simplified software deployment (one install) |
|
|
Energy efficient |
|
Usage:
We envisage implementing the X550 devices where “pods” (up to 4 workstations) of computers are required. We would look at implementing this into the music and/or science classrooms as a testing ground for the product. This could also be a solution for Jnr School classrooms.
What is required?
|
Component: |
Cost: |
|
NComputing X550 |
$700.00 (approx.) |
|
Host PC |
$1600.00 (approx.) |
|
Monitor |
$XX.XX |
|
Keyboard & Mouse |
$XX.XX |
The following is a video presentation of the X550 by NComputing:
[MEDIA not found]
The following is a video presentation of the L-Series component by NComputing. This is the next level up component designed to run a full computer lab:
[MEDIA not found]
My blog is now viewable on mobile devices. This was achieved using MobilePress WordPress plug-in.
If you are struggling to find anything and everything in the new Ribbon style Microsoft Office menu then the following FREE add-in might be just the thing for you…
(http://in.geocities.com/shahshaileshs/menuaddins)
| Word Add-in | Excel Add-in |
| PowerPoint Add-in | Access Add-in |
The add-in adds a new section to the add-in ribbon of the application that mimics the Office 2003 menu (Word example):
Installation:
- Download the add-in for each application from the links above.
- Unzip the macro-enable template files to a location on your PC.
- To install the add-in: Windows XP:
- Copy the appropriate macro-enabled file to the applications startup folder.
Word example (Word Menu 2003.dotm):
(C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup)
Windows Vista:
- Copy the appropriate macro-enabled file to the applications startup folder.
Word example (Word Menu 2003.dotm):
(C:\Users\<username)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP)
To run the add-in once off:
- Double-click the appropriate unzipped macro-enabled file.
- Copy the appropriate macro-enabled file to the applications startup folder.
Now bring back the memories of a simpler time…
Today I was searching for an application that would allow me to control Microsoft PowerPoint and other applications using my Windows Mobile Phone. While searching, I came across an application called MyMobiler. MyMobiler allows you to control your Windows Mobile device using your Windows PC. Why would I want to do this? MyMobiler allows you to take still screenshots of the current display on your device and can also record video while you are using your device.
Below is a screen capture and video capture from my device…
More on the Windows Mobile PowerPoint controller soon…
Who would have thought that I would be posting so much Mac related content?!? Who knows I may be a convert yet!
I have been fortunate enough to have a MacBook Pro allocated to my department which I then keenly allocated to myself for some play time 
Two days in and so far I am liking the latest OS X iteration.
The first thing i did was to setup and install Wndows XP using Boot Camp as I knew I would need some of the useful Windows only applications I use. This process was almost easier (if not easier) than installing Windows on a PC. Simply run the Boot Camp Assitant in OS X, set the Windows partitions size, insert a genuine Windows install CD and off you go. Your Mac will then boot initiating the usual initial Windows setup screens followed by the graphical Windows setup Wizard. Once the process is complete all that’s left to do is install the required drivers using the OS X Leopard install CD and your dual boot MAC-Windows computer is complete.
Boot Camp setup guide can be downloaded here.
Boot Camp is a great feature; however having to reboot each time to use your Windows apps is a bit of a pain. Enter VMware Fusion! VMware Fusion allows you do run a virtual OS machine under OS X much like Parallels or the archaic Virtual Desktop from Microsoft. VMware fusion was able to use my already setup Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine so setup was minimal. All that was needed was to install VMware tools once logged into Windows to allow the virtual machine to run alot smoother and use Macs inbuilt devices. VMware fusion can be run in Unity mode, which allows Windows applications to be run directly from the Dock or the VMware applications menu when the virtual machine is running (examples below).
Unity mode is nice however, I prefer full screen mode so I have allocated my Windows virtual machine to the second space in OS X. This means using the shortcut keys or Expose I can switch between full screen OS X and full screen Windows XP. Below are screen shots of OS X Leopard spaces with VMware assigned to the second space. The screen cap. looks a little odd as at the time I was also playing with multiple monitors with different screen resolutions.
I like the apple dock but I also like to organise it my way. OS X Leopard has introduced dock stacks, which allow you to sort applications, documents, downloads, etc. into folders in your dock and display them using the predefined fan, grid or list effects. I love this new feature however it looked a little plain. So over to my mate Google to find out how to pretty it up. I found a bunch of icons which the author has called Drawers which look awesome as stack icons. I will post a how to on this soon…
Other useful application I have installed which I will post about in the near future include:
- iAlertU
- iRed Lite
- WinClone
The next project, OS X Leopard on a PC…
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