How to Enable/Disabled Recording Devices in Windows 7/Vista

I had some strange sounds coming over my speakers and thought it might be one of my recording devices (my built in mic, etc) acting up. To troubleshoot this I brought up the Sound window, clicked on the Recording Tab and right-clicked on each of my recording devices to disable them.

It turns out my problem was caused by something else and was easily fixed, but now I have a new issue. How to I enable my recording devices. If you check the Recording Tab in the Sound window, there are no devices listed. Maybe I can enable them directly from the Device Manager. Nope, nothing listed there either...

The solution is fairly simple, but seems to be completely non-standard for windows. Go back to the Recording Tab in the Sound window and right-click in the now blank tab. You should get a context menu that has two options (Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.) Click on Show Disabled Devices and you should now be able to see and enable your devices.

Not a huge issue, but fairly annoying since it is done differently than most other places in Windows (i.e. The network device screen. Disabled devices are still visible but are disabled...)

Unable to Add user to SQL Error While Installing eConnect Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010

Problem

When trying to install eConnect for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 on a new Windows 7 machine, you might encounter an Unable to Add user to SQL error. I tried to fix the problem by using many combinations of local/SQL Server credentials during the eConnect installation process, but was unable to get past this error.

 

Solution

To get past the error I had to create a brand new Windows 7 user. I then had to use the new user when installing eConnect. It seems that the eConnect installation process is trying to setup SQL Server login information for the supplied user and has trouble if they already exist in SQL Server.

 

Hope this helps someone.

Services.msc – An error has occurred in this dialog. Error: 54 Unspecified error.

The Problem

Every time I brought up Services.msc and clicked on a service, I would get the following Internet Explorer error.

Windows Internet Explorer
An error has occurred in this dialog.
Error: 54
Unspecified error.

The Solution

To correct his problem, install the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 (not sure if it will work with Internet Explorer 9+. If it does, please post a comment and I’ll update the article.)

This problem was encountered on a Windows Server 2003 box with Internet Explorer 8 already installed.

Qwest Actiontec Q1000 in RFC 1483 Transparent Bridging Mode

I recently moved and was sad to find that my only internet option was Qwest DSL. I don’t exactly LOVE Comcast high speed internet, but it has always worked well for me in the past and I have had trouble with Qwest in the past. With Comcast, I have always used a cable modem to connect to Comcast and a separate wireless router to handle my home networking. With Qwest DSL, I had to purchase an Actiontec Q1000 Modem/Router which includes a four Gigabit switch and wireless b/g/n connection. Unfortunately, I had just purchased a Linksys E3000 router a couple of months before and would much rather use it.

I quickly found that I could setup my Actiontec Q1000 and then daisy chain my Linksys E3000 by connecting it directly to the Actiontec. I was then able to use the wireless of the Linksys E3000 rather than the Actiontec which seemed to work much better with much greater range. This seemed to work OK for most of my needs and I used it for about a month without a problem.

In this configuration the Actiontec would connect to Qwest and would assign IP addresses dynamically on the 192.168.0.1 network. My Linksys was setup to dynamically assign IP addresses on the 10.0.0.1 network. The Actiontec would assign the Linksys an IP address and the Linksys would then handle the needs of my actual LAN and all of my basic needs were met.

The problem came when I wanted to expose my server to the outside world and ran into a bit of a networking mess trying to expose by setting it’s IP address as the DMZ(There is probably a way to do it with this configuration, but I’m by no means a networking guru.) Fortunately, I found out how to put the Actiontec Q1000 into transparent bridge mode which effectively turned it into the modem I have been used to using with Comcast.

How to Do It?

 (note: You will need your PPPoE username and password from Qwest to do this. I had to call them to get it.)

1. On the Actiontec Q1000
   1. Log into your modem by entering the modem’s IP into the address bar of your browser (in my case, 192.168.0.1)
   2. Click on Advanced Setup
   3. Click on Wan IP
   4. Select RFC 1483 Transparent Bridging
   5. Save the Settings

1. On the other router (Linksys E3000 in my case)
   1. Log into your modem by entering the modem’s IP into the address bar of your browser (in my case, 10.0.0.1)
   2. Click on Setup
   3. Click on Basic Setup
   4. Change the Internet Connection Type to PPPoE
   5. Enter your PPPoE Username and Password acquired from Qwest
   6. Save the Settings

That’s all there is to it. Your Actiontec Q1000 should act as a Transparent Bridge and will assign your other router the external IP address and DNS information. With this setup I was able to correctly assign my server machine’s IP address as the DMZ. After updating my DynDNS, Viola, my server was exposed to the outside world.

Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard Review

Product Name: Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard
Link: But it on Amazon.com
I’ve always been a fan of simple keyboards. I would take a basic $4.99 CompUSA special without a single unnecessary key over the latest and greatest keyboard any day. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my keyboard died on me recently and I had to find a replacement. I decided to take some time, do my research and find a worthy replacement.

After some thought, I came up with a couple of requirements for my new keyboard. I definitely spend more time actively working (coding mostly) on my home PC these days and need a keyboard that was quiet, preferably back-lit and with a minimum number of extra keys/functions to get in my way. My search led me to the Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard and it has yet to disappoint.

The Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard met my specific requirements based on the myriad reviews that I trudged through. It was quiet, back-lit (must not look like a spaceship,) had just a few extra function keys which were out-of-the-way and the overall design was pretty sexy IMHO! As a bonus, the keyboard was ultra-thin with a 9.3mm profile and keys that were very close to the keyboard on my work laptop. From the screenshots, I was worried about the soft-touch palm rest that comes built into the keyboard, but I have actually really enjoyed it as a feature and it hasn’t gotten in the way at all like most palm rests I have ever seen.

I have always been a fan of Logitech gaming mice, but this was only the 2nd Logitech keyboard I have ever owned. The 1st was a wireless Bluetooth keyboard and was fairly disappointing due to extra function keys and volume sliders that were always getting in the way. This keyboard was different. The minimalist design of the keyboard itself was great and the software was pretty awesome (just the the gaming mice I’d come to love.) The function keys were completely customizable and there was a section for Keyboard Inactive Keys which lets you completely disable certain keys that are prone to getting in the way. I disabled Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and the Insert key. I don’t think I’ve EVER really used any of them and it was nice to not worry about accidentally turning one on.

My only problem with this keyboard so far is that the front two pads on the bottom of the keyboard have come off when I slide my keyboard forwards or backwards on my desktop without lifting it. I think this is due to the hot weather and friction loosening the adhesive. The pads go right back into place for now, but I assume there will be a time in the not-so-distant-future where they will have to be removed or replaced completely. Other than that, the keyboard has been amazing.

Other Features

• Bright, laser-etched, backlit keys that let you type easily--even in the dark
• Cutting-edge, ultra-thin profile (9.3 mm) that adds an elegant touch to any desk
• PerfectStroke key system for typing that's silent, natural and fluid
• Sleek, minimalist design for the ideal combination of form and function
• Soft-touch palm rest and full-size key layout for enhanced comfort
• Convenient one-touch controls for volume and media playback are easily within reach.

Conclusion
The Logitech Illuminated Keyboard is a solid minimalist keyboard. There are function keys, but they definitely don’t interfere with every day use. The back-lit keys are great for working in less than optimal lighting or when gaming in the dark. The keyboard is thin, stylish and closely resembled a laptop keyboard (which is great if you are already used to it.) If you’re looking for a keyboard that looks great and performs even better, this might just be it.

Pro’s

• Quiet!
• Illuminated without looking like a spaceship
• Minimalist Design
• No crazy function keys that get in your way.
• Thin form factor
• Laptop Keyboard like keys
• Software/Drivers

Con’s

• Front pads on the bottom of the keyboard can come off if the keyboard is pushed forwards or backwards.

Runners Up

What is Pando Media Booster (PMB.exe)

A friend of mine has been telling me about the game League of Legends for quite a while now. I didn’t realize League of Legends was a free-to-play game, but since I’m always willing to play a Free game for a while, I downloaded their client and started the install.

Later that night, I happened to check my Task Manager and noticed an unfamiliar process (PMB.exe) running. Hrm. Like any unusual process running on my PC, I decided to look into it a bit. A quick Scroogle search later It was obvious what had happened…

Installing League of Legends also silently installed an application called Pando Media Booster without my knowledge (or at least it wasn’t obvious that it was being installed. Perhaps it was in that ToS that no one can ever quite bring themselves to read.) With a name like “Pando Media BOOSTER”, how could it possibly be bad. After all, who wouldn’t want their media boosted…!

What is Pando Media Booster? (Thanks for Sharing Indeed!)

PMB.exe is a small application that is installed along with some free-to-use software such as League of Legends, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, NBC, etc… PMB.exe basically helps the company off-load the responsibly of sharing their media files, patches or installations directly by turning their user’s machines into Peer 2 Peer clients. (Rather than having pushing you a 600MB update file, which actually costs the company money, the users might receive parts of the file from hundreds of other players.)

Is PMB.exe Bad?

PMB.exe isn’t inherently bad and is a valid way for a company offering free or discounted software or media to save some money in operating costs. “Isn’t inherently bad” is assuming that the company that installs this process on your machine has told you what it is and has given you the option of whether you want to install it or not. In my case, I had NO idea it was being installed and was just lucky to have found it the same day. (I’ve recently had to switch to Qwest “High Speed” internet and unfortunately have NO bandwidth to spare.)

And unsuspecting user that leaves PMB.exe running on their system is pretty much being forced to seed files to thousands of users ALL THE TIME (PMB.exe has been reported by users to use up to 80+% of their internet connection’s upload bandwidth.) For some users this could lead to their ISP throttling their connection and/or actually charging them extra $$$ for using more bandwidth than they knew they were using.

Conclusion

Pando Media Booster isn’t a virus but might well be considered malware depending on how it was installed on your machine, if you were aware of it and if you were given an option to install it or not. In any event, it is legit malware and getting rid of it is an simple as pulling up your Programs and Features (Windows 7) and uninstalling it. Just be aware that it might get reinstalled with future installations or updates to the product that originally installed it.

Then again, if you want to support the company and have plenty of upload bandwidth to spare… Leave PMB.exe up and running. I’m sure they would greatly appreciate it.

Hope this helps someone and clears up any immediate concerns you might have.

Other Companies Reported to Bundle Pando Media Booster With Their Product
Dungeons and Dragons Online
Lord of the Ring Online
Star Trek Online
All Points Bulletin (APB)
Other Games from GamersFirst?
Maple Story
NBC Direct
Flyff
Atlantica Online
Combat Arms
Dungeon Fighter
Games from gpotato.com


Any others? Comment below and I'll add them.

SharePoint Solution Installer timeout – Bamboo Nation – Project Management Central

Bamboo Nation uses the SharePoint Solution Installer to deploy their Web Parts. When installing their Project Management Central suite of web parts, the installer would pause on the "Waiting (max. 15 minutes) for solution deployment…" screen before moving onto the next Web Part. After waiting through a couple of these (and refusing to wait through 26 of them) and then clicking Abort, I was presented with the log file which contained a bunch of timeout errors.



The installation process actually depends on the following two services being started or set to Automatic.

• Windows SharePoint Services Administration
• Windows SharePoint Services Timer

Both of these services were set to Automatic on my machine, so I almost ruled it out as a problem. The Administration service was started, but the timer service was not. Just to make sure, I tried to start the timer service and It failed.



The key difference between these two services lies in the Log On As column. The Windows SharePoint Services Timer service is set to log on with with my domain credentials.

I had recently changed my domain password. Updating my password on the Log On tab of the property screen for the timer service fixed the problem, and my Bamboo Nation Project Management Central installed perfectly.

Missing Merge Modules after updating Visual Studio - Unable to find module file 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules\Crystal_Database_Access2003.msm'

This problem affects Visual Studio 2003 projects that have been updated to Visual Studio 2005 or great. If your solution has a Setup Project that depends on old merge modules, you might get the following error when trying to build the Setup Project.

Unable to find module file 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules\Crystal_Database_Access2003.msm'

Basically, the merge modules no longer exist in the given location. Fixing the problem is as easy as copying the missing modules into the ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules\’folder, but tracking down the files was a bit harder than it should have been.

You can download the merge modules you need from the following address. Hope this helps.

https://smpdl.sap-ag.de/~sapidp/012002523100006009302008E/cr_net_2003_mm_en.zip

(If the above link stops working, please leave a comment and I’ll try to update it.)

Visual Studio – Disable the Attach Security Warning

After installing Windows 7 I started to encounter a new popup when trying to debug the web application that I am currently working with.

This extra step is fairly annoying when you are debugging frequently. I heard rumor about a Registry Setting that could be updated or changed to get rid of this but could never track down the exact key or value. Luckily, there is a much simpler solution to getting rid of this error.

Navigate to: Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Local Security Policy->Security Settings->Local Policies->User Rights Assignment

Double click on Debug Programs and you’ll see the following screen where you can add your user. By adding your user, you will be a member of the debug programs group and this annoying error should disappear.

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070020) – IIS 7 – Internet Information Se

In IIS7 I was trying to start my Default Web Site and was getting the following error screen.

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070020)

A quick Google search turned up the following Microsoft Support Topic. Ok. Lets take a look at netstat and see what might be causing problems. Open a command prompt ([Windows Key + R] and enter cmd) and enter the command. After running netstat -ano, I noticed that there was indeed another process (with a process id of 796) accessing port 80. (You can enter netstat /? to see what the –ano flags are doing.)

The offending process that is using port 80 has a process id of 796. Now, how to find out what that process 796 is?
Using the tasklist command will show a list of all processes running in windows. You can use the /fi flags to filter the results. In this case I’m using a filter that will only show processes with a PID that equals 796. tasklist /fi “PID eq 796”

The process with process id is Skype. Makes sense that it would be using port 80. I promptly closed down Skype and was then able to start my Default Web Site in IIS Manager. Hope this helps someone.

Adding a 2nd blog account in Windows Live Writer in Windows 7 gets stuck on “Detecting blog icon”

I’m currently running Windows 7 and I tried to add my 2nd blog account to Windows Live Writer today. Unfortunately, Live Writer would get stuck on the “Detecting blog icon…” message when setting up the new account.

I did a bit of poking around on Google and found a couple of posts about this same issue.

This post mentions that running Live Writer as Administrator fixed the issue for them. (You can do this by right clicking on the Live Writer icon and choosing Run as administrator, btw.) Running live writer as Administrator did not work for me. I still got stuck on the “Detecting blog icon…” message,

This answer from Yahoo Answers mentions trying to close Live Writer and re-open it. Closing and Reopening Live Writer didn’t solve the problem for me. The next suggestion on this question was to reboot windows.

After rebooting Windows 7, I was able to successfully add my 2nd live writer blog account.

Directory "X" associated with feature 'XXX’ in the solution is used by feature 'XXX' installed in the farm. All features must have unique directories

I copy and pasted a feature/module in my VWeWSS solution and updated the module.xml file. Unfortunately, I missed an edit in the file and caused  a problem. After fixing my module.xml file, I got the following error message in visual studio.

“Directory "X" associated with feature ‘GUID1’ in the solution is used by feature ‘GUID2’ installed in the farm. All features must have unique directories to avoid overwriting files.”

This seemed like a straight forward error, but I had a bit of trouble tracking down what exactly to do to be able to use the Deploy command again. I was able to fix the error eventually by retracting my solution. You can retract a solution by performing the following step.

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Click on Operations
3. Click on Solution Management under Global Configuration
4. Click on the name of the problem solution
5. Click on Retract Solution
6. Choose Now for Rectract When?
7. Click OK
8. Wait for the retraction to complete and then try to deploy again from VWeWSS

Hope this can save someone a bit of time.

“Value does not fall within the expected range” when deploying WSP with VSeWSS's deploy command

I started to get a Value does not fall within the expected range error when trying to use the VSeWSS Deploy command from within Visual Studio 2008.

Value does not fall within the expected range.

I spent almost an hour trying to track down what exactly was causing my problem. There are tons of posts about this error message, but it seems like there can be many causes. Unfortunately, none of these solutions worked for me.
After banging my head on my keyboard for a while longer, I started to systematically exclude elements/folders of my VSeWSS project and then trying to run the Deploy command again. Seems desperate, I know, but it ended up helping me find out what exactly was causing this error. Excluding my project Features didn’t fix the error, but by excluding the whole TEMPLATES folder the error went away. I was onto something. I started to exclude sub folders and after playing around with this for a while, I narrowed the problem down to the nav folder within my IMAGES folder. After looking in the folder, the cause was obvious… /Facepalm.

Earlier this morning I had recreated some of my navigation images and replaced the old jpgs with pngs. Unfortunately, my project was still referencing the missing files. By removing the missing references, the error went away. Too bad the error wasn’t a tad-bit more helpful instead of being completely obscure.
In conclusion. If you’re experiencing the Value does not fall within the expected range error. Double-check your VSeWSS project for any references files or folders that no longer exist or any that exist in your folders but are not referenced by your project. Remove any that you find and it might solve your problems.

“A World Wide Web browser, such as Windows Internet Explorer, is required to use this feature” in Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer

In Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer when I Check In a file to my website and choose to Publish a Major Version.

SharePoint Designer shows the following Dialog.

This document requires content approval. Do you want to view or modify its approval status?

When I click Yes, I get the following error dialog.

A world Wide Web browser, such as Windows Internet Explorer, is required to use this feature.

My first instinct was to make Internet Explorer my default browser *shudder*. I did this by opening Internet Explorer, clicking on Tools and selecting Internet Option. I then clicked the Programs tab and clicked on Make Default. Unfortunately, it didn’t make this silly error go away.

A little more digging into the issue presented something interesting. By bringing up Default Programs (Press your Windows Key and enter Default Programs into the search box) and then clicking on Set your default programs, you can see settings for Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer web browsers.

By selecting and application on the left, you can set it to be the default program by clicking Set this program as default (clicking this for Internet Explorer didn’t work either, btw) or you can choose some specific defaults for the selected application by clicking on Choose defaults for this program. The latter is basically managing the extensions and protocols associated with the program.

The list of default settings for my web browser are displayed in the 3 images below.

Chrome Associations

Firefox Associations

Internet Explorer 8 Associations

Looking at the differences between the associated extensions, Internet Explorer doesn’t have entries for .shtml, .xht, or .xhtml by default while both Firefox and Chrome do. Thought I’d try to manually associate these three extensions with Internet Explorer to see if it fixed the issue, thinking that one of these extensions was being routed to Firefox or Chrome even with Internet Explorer set to be the default browser. You can do this by going back to Default Programs and clicking on Associate a file type or protocol with a program. Unfortunately, the error wasn’t affected by this change.

To get rid of this error, I actually had to uninstall Firefox and Chrome. I was able to re-install Firefox without checking the Make my default browser checkbox and the error was still gone, but any installation of Chrome would cause the error to come back.

It looks like the only fix for this is to remove Firefox and Chrome if they are installed. If anyone else knows of a valid work-around that allows you to keep Chrome installed, please let me know.

Thanks.

Minimum configuration to get ride of 'Server farm configuration not complete' message in SharePoint 2007

Setup SharePoint for the 1st time today and was annoyed to see the following message staring at me with no clear idea of what I was expected to do to get rid of it.

! Server farm configuration not complete !

So. My obvious question was what needs to be configured to get ride of this message. It wasn’t until I had completed the following from Central Administration that the message disappeared.

1. Clicked  on Shared Services Administration and added configured my Shared Services Providers
   1. This required me to create an associated Web Application (if your web application list is empty after creating a new one, see This Post about a potential fix.)
2. Configuring and starting the services below from the Central Administration –> Operations -> Topology and Services -> Services on Server screen
1. Office SharePoint Server Search
2. Windows SharePoint Services Help Search
3. Setup Outgoing Email Settings from the Central Administration –> Operations -> Topology and Services –> Outgoing e-mail settings

After configuring the above items, the message went away.

Web Application list is empty in SharePoint 2007 – New Shared Services Provider and Application Pool identity

After creating a web application in SharePoint and then trying to configure a new Shared Service Provider (SSP), I was dismayed to find my web application list was empty. Because of this, there was no way to select my my web application and I was unable to create a new SSP.

After doing some digging I found out that the list will not show web applications that have a built-in account (such as Network Service) associated with the application pool assigned to the web application. After configuring the application pool associated with my web application to use my domain user account instead, the Web Application list on the Shared Services Provider screen was correctly showing my web applications. I was then able to successfully create my new SSP.

'HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable' message in IIS7 – Application Pools

One of my IIS7 virtual directories wigged out today and started to give me the following error screen.

Service Unavailable – HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable.
I found a post from Rich Strahl that pointed me in the right direction. When I brought up my Internet Information Services Manager and clicked on Application Pools, my DefaultAppPool was stopped.

Unfortunately, my application pools were already set to auto-start and restarting the application pool didn’t solve my problem. As soon as I tried to bring up my website, the application pool would immediately stop again and give me the same error screen. After spending the next 10 minutes or so restarting Windows 7 and starting and re-staring my application pools to no avail, I decided to re-install my IIS7 and Windows Process Activation Service features.
After re-installing these windows features, everything was back in order. Unfortunately, I did have to add ALL of my virtual directories again, but I expected as much. You can re-install these features from the Programs and Features screen by clicking on Turn Windows features on or off.

On the Windows Features screen, you can uninstall any feature by removing the check next to it and then clicking OK. You can then return to this screen after restarting windows to reinstall them.

Hope this helps someone. If anyone knows how to correct this without reinstalling the features, please comment!

Windows 7 New Taskbar Review

I’m starting to like the Windows 7 taskbar more and more. The application grouping takes a bit of getting used to, but I love how nice and clean it is. Rather than just showing you your open windows, the Windows 7 taskbar serves as more of an application launcher. I’ll share a few of my favorite features of the new and improved Windows 7 taskbar below!

Taskbar Overview

The layout is nice and clean. No more text labels to clutter up the bar. You can pin applications to the task bar for easy launching (good bye quick launch bar!) You can easily tell which application I have open and which are just pinned to the task bar but not open (In the image above Chrome is open, while Firefox and Internet Explorer are pinned but not open.) You can see that I have multiple Live Messenger windows open just by looking at the icon. You can also tell that I have an new message/alert by the yellow highlight on the icon itself.

Taskbar Icons

If you hover oven the Live Messenger icon with the mouse you get a popup window that will show all of my conversation windows along with the messenger itself. From this popup you can select a window by clicking on it, or close it by clicking on the red X. I was very delighted to find that clicking the middle mouse button on one of the conversation windows closed it, just like I had hoped and expected it to.

*PSA* If you don’t use you middle mouse button for more than scrolling, you really should. You can middle-click web links to open them a new tab in your browser or middle-click a tab to close it. I’m happy to see that you can now middle-click in the new Windows 7 Taskbar to close some things. */PSA*

Jump Lists

The above window (or Jump List as Microsoft calls them) is displayed when you right click an application’s icon on the taskbar. As you can see, this popup is customized for the application (Live Messenger) and gives you quick access to its features without actually activating the application. This window gives you access to frequently used options or other features that might be specifically programmed for the specific application. Very handy! (Note: You can also left click and move the mouse up quickly on the application’s icon to display this same window. Feature?)

Launching Apps

One thing that wasn’t immediately obvious to me was how to launch another instance of an application when I already had one open. In this screenshot I already have an instance of Visual Studio 2008 open. To open another, you right click the application’s icon and then click on the application button from the popup. You can also launch new instances of an open app by Shift + Clicking the icon (Thank BlackTigerX.)

Hold Shift to Open Files With Taskbar Apps

If you have a file that you would like to “Open with” one of your open applications, you can drag the file over the taskbar icon for the application while holding [Shift Key] down. You will notice that the popup label changes from “Pint to…” to “Open with…”. When you release your mouse button, the file will be opened with the application rather than pinning it to the taskbar.

Pinned Folders

Another initial annoyance was the way pinned folders work with the task bar. In Vista, I had a couple of work directories that I opened many times daily pinned to my quick launch bar. In windows 7 you can only have a single system folder pinned to your taskbar. Any additional folders that try to drag to the taskbar is then pinned to the single windows explorer/folder icon. By default, clicking this icon bring up your Libraries window (another handy Windows 7 feature that we wont get into yet.)

The additional folders that you pin to the taskbar are accessible by right clicking on the explorer/folder icon. Just like the paulf folder above. This screen also gives you quick access to a list of your frequently accessed directories.

Other Taskbar Improvements

The notification area of the taskbar is more customizable and allows you to decide which notifications you are interested in and which icons you would like to see. I like how I don’t have to look at 300 tiny icons for every app that wants to notify me about something (most of them doing nothing at all.)

The network icon on the taskbar has been greatly improved as well. Just by clicking on the icon I have direct access to information about the network I’m currently connected to, connect/disconnect to my VPN connection, and all wireless networks within range. There’s also a link to the Network and Sharing Center.

The button that I’ve outlined in red in the screenshot above will show/hide your desktop. Basically it opens or closes all of your currently opened windows. There is also another option that will allow you to “Peek” at your desktop which makes your windows transparent instead of hiding them completely. Nothing that the [Windows Key] + D shortcut didn't already do, but a feature none-the-less.

Tip

You can use the [Windows Key] + 1-9 as shortcuts to launch your taskbar applications. My 1st icon is my Windows Explorer, so I can easily launch it by pressing [Windows Key] + 1. Chrome is my 2nd taskbar app, so it’s [Windows Key] + 2, etc.

After spending the initial time getting used to the new taskbar, I think most people will agree that all of the new features are worth the new learning curve. I haven’t found any deal-breakers that might make me want to revert to the old windows taskbar! Hope someone find this useful.

Drag and Drop files in Windows 7 with User Account Control (UAC) enabled causes issues.

I took the plunge and updated to Windows 7 x64 on my development machine. It has been a fairly pleasant experience for the most part. No major problems with installation, setup, drivers, or getting my development environment configured correctly so that I can get back to working!

I’ve been enjoying Windows 7 so much that I decided to leave the User Account Control (UAC) active. The implementation seems to be MUCH less annoying in Windows 7 than it was in Windows Vista. You even have access to options to configure just how annoying (err, I mean secure) you want it to be.

Unfortunately, I found a deal-breaker that finally led me to disable the UAC in Windows 7. The problem started out when I was unable to drag an aspx file from my Windows Explorer window into my Visual Studio window like I’ve always done. I ended up figuring out the problem. I had the “Run as Administrator” option set for my instance of Visual Studio 2008 while my Windows Explorer was running with default permissions for my User Account. >_<

UAC is trying to protect me from processes running with lesser privileges from sending messages to processes running with Administrator privileges. Probably a valid concern, but considering that I generally NEED to run my Visual Studio as an Administrator and I really like the ability to drag an drop files into it… UAC has gone the way of the Dodo once more (at least on my machine.) I also ran into this issue when trying to drag files into my SQL Server 2008 Management Studio. This one isn’t as critical since it really doesn’t need to be run as Administrator, but annoying just the same.

Hope this might help someone else figure out why Dragging and Dropping between processes no longer works for them in some instances!

~ Paul

Facebook changed my language setting on me - Unrequested Language Change

While I was checking my Facebook today, I ran into a strange issue. All of my menus, status updates, recent updates, requests, suggestion, and pretty much everything else changed to another language. I didn’t change any settings or update anything, i was just reading the updates on my home page. See the screenshot below.



Seeing that everything was in this new and interesting language, I couldn’t exactly get into my facebook settings and find out where to change the language back. Fortunately I found a direct link to the Facebook language settings page so that I could change it back to my native English. You can click the link below to check it out and fix this issue.

Facebook Language Settings Direct Link

Hopefully Facebook find out how my setting suddenly and randomly changed and I hope this helps someone else out if it happens to them.
~ Paul

Encountering a Black Screen after logging into another computer with Window Remote Desktop Connection

I had to Remote Desktop into a Windows Server 2008 machine for a client today and encountered a Black Screen after successfully logging in. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the screen to go away. I tried all my normal tricks such as spamming ctrl+alt+delete and yelling at the screen, but nothing seemed to work. The next step was to Google it…

The Google results were plentiful and recommended that I disable Bitmap Caching from the Experience tab of the Remote Desktop Connection window. I do so and re-connected. No luck for me, but many others reported that this fixed it for them.

The next most common Google result was to check firewall, router MTU, and other router settings. Since my remote desktop connection have never had trouble before and I was able to successfully log into the same machine under a different user name, I figured I’d skip that one.

My next idea was to try and log in with another account. I logged in with the administrator account and found that it was working fine. My immediate thought was to try to find my other logged in session and force a log out. Supposedly, you can view logged on user by opening your  Server Manager, expanding File Services, clicking on Share and Storage Management, and then clicking on Manage Sessions in the action pane to the right. This did not work for me (my other session wasn’t listed,) but it might for you. =)

After trying all of these “fixes” I decided to just do what I needed to do from the Administrator account that I was logged onto. By the time I was finished, I switched back to my other Remote Desktop Connection screen and was surprised to see that it was no longer black, but was showing the login window again. The session must have timed out and locked. I logged in and everything seemed to be working correctly again.

I’m not sure if allowing the session to time out and lock was what fixed it or if Remote Desktop just needed some extra time… But hopefully something in this post helps you out if you encounter a Black Screen after logging into a Remote Desktop session.

~ Paul

‘The configuration section 'connectionStrings' cannot be read because it is missing a section declaration’ message in IIS7

I spent the better part of this morning trying to figure out what was wrong with a 3rd party blogging utility that we recently started using. I was getting and error message stating that “The configuration section 'connectionStrings' cannot be read because it is missing a section declaration” when setting up my development environment.
The ONLY reference to this error that I could find was from MSDN HERE. No sections of the web.config were encrypted so, none of the recommended causes and resolutions helped.The web.config file for the 3rd party project was pretty large and I thought it might have been due to mal-formed xml somewhere. I validated the xml and scanned for anything obvious, but it all looked like everything was fine.
I eventually tracked down the problem with the web.config file. The problem was in the <configSections> section of the web.config. The 1st line within this section was <clear/>. The <clear/> tag can be used to removes all sections and section groups that were already defined (either earlier in the given configuration file or higher in the configuration hierarchy.) This is helpful in other sections when you want to clear a default provider before registering a new one, etc…
It looks like <clear/> is a valid tag for this section, so I’m not sure why it would be causing the error. Either way it solved my problem for my development environment. Hope this helps someone else in the future.
~ Paul

How to Import your Delicious Bookmarks into Google Bookmarks

So, like many of you, I’ve finally switched to Google Chrome as my web browser of choice (It has finally reached Default Browser status.) I still use Firefox for web development since Chrome lacks a lot of the tools I use day-to-day (Thanks firebug,) but the speed and usability of Chrome finally won me over.

Other than my development tools, the only other Add-on that I really miss is my trusty Del.icio.us Bookmark bar. It is great to have immediate access to my bookmarks in Firefox with tag support. To help remedy this situation I started to look at what options I have for accessing my Del.icio.us bookmarks from Chrome. You can do the obvious and just access them from http://delicious.com/, but that’s boring.

The 2nd option is to use bookmarklets. You can add these to any browser and they are basically bookmarks that give you access to your bookmarks. Not as good as a direct bookmark bar, but better than browsing there yourself 100 times a day. You can even get delicious bookmarklets that make it easy to pop-up the “Save bookmark” screen for the current page you’re on to add new bookmarks. Read about delicious bookmarklets..

The 3rd option (and the one I’m actually trying out.) Convert to Google Bookmarks. Unlike delicious, google bookmarks keeps your bookmarks private and makes them and their contents searchable. You can manage your bookmarks from the site or using Google toolbar. You can also manage them in Firefox using Add-ons. For users of iGoogle (Google’s home/startup pages), you can also get a Google Bookmarks Gadget that lets you interact with your bookmarks.

The next question is how to get ALL of your precious bookmarks out of Del.icio.us and into Google Bookmarks. Well, that’s easier than you might think. Mihai Parparita from Google has created a script that will import all of your Delicious bookmarks into Google Bookmarks automatically. You can perform the import at http://persistent.info/delicious2google or read more on their site..

You can also use a Google Bookmarks bookmarklet.

Does anyone else have a better solution for managing and accessing your bookmarks from Chrome?

Databinding an asp:ListBox has no selected items (selected = false)

If you are working with a Data Bound ASP.Net ListBox control (or a similar control) and are having trouble with all of your ListItem.Selected calls are returning false even though you KNOW you selected one or more of them. You might have an issue with the way you're Data Binding.

Consider the following code. In my example I am using a DataBindControls method that will retrieve some data and then bind it to a ListBox.

private void DataBindControls() {
   ArrayList roles = RoleProvider.Instance().GetRoles();

   lbRoles.DataSource = roles;
   lbRoles.DataTextField = "RoleName";
   lbRoles.DataValueField = "RoleId";
   lbRoles.DataBind();
} 

I just so happen to be calling this method in the Page_Load even of my page. Unfortunately, I forgot to wrap this call in a "IsPostBack" check. What is happening is that my control is being databound again before I access the selected values from the previous request.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
   DataBindControls();
}

You can easily remedy this issue by wrapping the call in an if statement that makes sure to only databind your controls on the initial call to the page. (when it's not a post back)

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
   if (!IsPostBack) {
       DataBindControls();
   }
}

Just another one of those "Palm to Forhead" issues. Hope it helps someone. =)

Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) has extra white space gap after a empty, fixed size div with a background-image

I was trying to fix a small display issue with one of our pages in IE6. I had an unordered list that we set the background color on and wanted to add rounded images to the top and bottom to give it a nice look.

The rounded top image

The HTML

<div class="container">
   <div style="height: 6px; width: 190px; background-image: url(../images/top.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat;">
   </div>
   <ul style="background-color:#763000;">
       <li><a href="#">Item 1</a></li>
       <li><a href="#">Item 2</a></li>
       <li><a href="#">Item 3</a></li>
   </ul>
   <div style="height: 6px; width: 190px; background-image: url(../images/bottom.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat;">
   </div>
</div>

Simple enough. Everything works great in IE7, Firefox, Chrome, etc... I get a report of extra white space after the top rounded image. I track down a system running Windows XP with IE6 and I fire it up. Sure enough, a bit of white space after the top div. But why....

The Problem

I tried everything that seemed to make sense. Checked margins, padding, etc... Everything was either good or changing it did nothing. Unfortunately in IE6 I didn't have access to my favorite tools like Firebug, so it was even more frustrating. Eventually I figured it out and I think I know what's going on.

IE6 assumes a font-size of 20px. Since my background-image was only 6px in height, when I set the height on the div it was ignored. The div would try to shrink to my set height, but would end up limited by the assumed font-size of 20px. By setting the font-size to something smaller in height than my desired 6px, it would solve the problem. Remember this when dealing with empty divs IE6. Hope it helps someone.

The HTML that works

By setting the font-size style in the "empty" div, IE6 allows the div to shrink to my desired height of 6px.

<div class="container">
   <div style="height: 6px; font-size:0em; width: 190px; background-image: url(../images/top.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat;">
   </div>
   <ul style="background-color:#763000;">
       <li><a href="#">Item 1</a></li>
       <li><a href="#">Item 2</a></li>
       <li><a href="#">Item 3</a></li>
   </ul>
   <div style="height: 6px; font-size:0em; width: 190px; background-image: url(../images/bottom.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat;">
   </div>
</div>

Google's Chrome displays saved passwords in plain text

Google's new web browser "Chrome" is pretty nice. I used it for a full day and found quite a few things that I really liked about it. As soon as the few plug-ins that I use daily get equivalents in Chrome, I will possibly use it for every day use. I was sad to learn that one of my biggest web browser pet-peeves is present in Chrome, and it seems to be an even worse implementation of it than Firefox 3's (Firefox 3 Saved Password Security.)

The Saved Password feature of any browser can be invaluable. It saves a great deal of time for passwords that you would otherwise have to enter many times a day. Unfortunately, most web browser make it WAY too easy to gain access to the web site URL, username and plain-text passwords to your accounts. Someone with only a few minutes access to your machine can easily gain access to this information.

In Google's Chrome, all someone (with several seconds alone with your computer) needs to do to steal your information is...

1. Open Chrome
2. Click customize(the wrench)
3. Select Option
4. Click the Minor Tweaks tab
5. Click Show saved passwords
6. Select one of your "secure" sites
7. Click Show password

BAM! Someone just stole the web site address, username and password to one of your accounts? I hope it wasn't something important... In Firefox's defense, at least they have a "Master Password" that will require you to enter a password prior to them showing your passwords in plain-text. But no such feature is present in Chrome.

I'm always blown away by people's responses to this problem. People that I show in person are usually shocked when we're both staring at their bank account password in plain-text right before their eyes. People online usually say that no one ever has access to their computer, so their safe, or that they always lock their system when they're away. That's a great practice to get into, but I know the vast majority of users aren't so diligent.

At the very least, the Chrome team needs to add a master password for an added layer of security. I think both Firefox and Chrome should warn the user about this danger and prompt them to setup a master password by default, rather than having saved passwords turned on by default.

Reporting Services is grayed out after adding reporting services to an existing MS SQL install

You can add Reporting Services to an existing install of MS SQL in Windows Vista (not sure how different the step would be in XP) by following these steps.

1. Open Programs and Features (press the windows key, type in Programs and Features and press enter)
2. Right-Clicking on Microsoft SQL Server 2005  and click Change.
3. Under SQL Server 2005 instances:  select the instance you want to add reporting services to and click Next
4. Click on To install a new component, click here
5. Browse to the Setup.exe file on your installation disk and click OK
6. Click through the wizard until you get to the Components to Install screen
7. Select Reporting Services  and finish the wizard.

It's that simple... Unless Reporting Services  happens to be Grayed Out. If this is the case for you, you are probably missing requirements that Reporting Services needs. During the above process, you came to a screen called System Configuration Check and you probably got a yellow exclamation point on IIS Feature Requirements. Basically, you need to add some features to your IIS installation before you can install reporting services.

 

To enable these IIS features, follow the steps below.

1. Open Programs and Features (press the windows key, type in Programs and Features and press enter)
2. Click on Turn Windows features on or off to bring up the Windows Features window
3. Expand the Internet Information Services option and place check marks next to all the features you want to install
4. Click OK to install the features.

Here is a list of features that are required before you can add Reporting Services to your existing MS SQL Server installation. (Reference here.)

Component	Folder
Static Content	Common HTTP Features
Default Document	Common HTTP Features
HTTP Redirection	Common HTTP Features
ASP.Net	Application Development
ISAPI Extension	Application Development
ISAPI Filters	Application Development
Windows Authentication	Security
IIS Metabase	Management Tools
IIS 6 WMI	Management Tools

 

After adding these features, try to perform the steps above for adding Reporting Services to an existing MS SQL Installation and Reporting Services should not be grayed out. Hope this helps.

How to Enable/Disabled Recording Devices in Windows Vista

I had some strange sounds coming over my speakers and thought it might be one of my recording devices (my built in mic, etc) acting up. To troubleshoot this I brought up the Sound window, clicked on the Recording Tab and right-clicked on each of my recording devices to disable them. It turns out my problem was caused by something else and was easily fixed, but now I have a new issue. How to I enable my recording devices. If you check the Recording Tab in the Sound window, there are no devices listed. Maybe I can enable them directly from the Device Manager. Nope, nothing listed there either...

The solution is fairly simple, but seems to be completely non-standard for windows. Go back to the Recording Tab in the Sound window and right-click in the now blank tab. You should get a context menu that has two options (Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.) Click on Show Disabled Devices and you should now be able to see and enable your devices.

Not a huge issue, but fairly annoying since it is done differently than most other places in Windows (i.e. The network device screen. Disabled devices are still visible but are disabled...)

How to Replace/Remove Blank/Empty Lines in Visual Studio using Regular Expressions

I'm mainly just posting this so that I don't forget it. I find myself needing this every now and again and need an easy place to find it. Hope it helps someone else. =)
If you want to remove or replace the Empty Lines in a Visual Studio file, you can perform the following.

• Press Control + H on your keyboard to bring up the replace window.
• In the Find What: field, enter ^$\n
• In the Replace With: field, enter nothing
• Check the Use: checkbox and then select Regular Expressions from the drop-down
• Click Replace All

Note: If you want to remove the blank lines from just a part of your file, select/highlight it prior to performing the step above and make sure Selection is selected in the Look in: field.
Hope this helped. =)

Firefox shows saved passwords in plain text!

I finally got around to updating to Firefox 3 yesterday. With all the new features being touted around the web, I was hoping that they would have gotten around to addressing my biggest pet-peeve with the browser. It seems that they didn't! You can read my original post about this issue HERE. Firefox 2 - Saved Password Security.

I'm sure you are diligent about security. Every time you get up to take a walk, hit the restroom or refill your <Insert the caffeinated beverage of your choice>, you always hit [Windows + L] to lock windows. You then leave your system, secure in the knowledge that all your secrets are safe and secure while you're away. What's that?!? You NEVER lock your computer when away from it...? If this is you, and you use Firefox as your main browser, this post might be of great interest.

When you install Firefox and log into a web site, such as MySpace, you might get a popup asking if you would like Firefox to save your password for you. What a great idea. If I let Firefox remember my passwords, I wont have to remember and enter them every time I visit a site. Handy! Better yet, this feature is turned on by default. Thanks Firefox. I, like most of you, probably just assume that my passwords are being handled securely and continue using Firefox for months adding more and more passwords to Firefox for my favorite sites as I go.

How secure are my saved passwords in Firefox 3?

In Firefox 3, it looks something like this.

You try to sign into your favorite Social Network. MySpace in this case.

Firefox is so helpful. Sure! Remember my MySpace password.

What exactly happens with my MySpace passwords in Firefox 3? They're secure, right? You can click [Tools > Options > Security (Tab) > Saved Passwords] to find out.

Well, Well. What do we have here? The URL to the web site and my username. Seems harmless enough. But what's this? A [Show Passwords] button? Lets click it and see what happens...

Gulp. There it is. Everything that someone would need to log into my MySpace account. The site address, my username, and my password in PLAIN TEXT! Anyone with about 20 seconds alone with your computer could easily get this information for themselves.

Try it for yourself and see just how scary it is when you see all the passwords for your banking accounts, your E-Trade account, etc. Better yet, walk your friends and co-workers through this on their own workstations and see the shock on their faces when they see their PLAIN TEXT passwords visible to the world in 3 easy steps that take 10 seconds to perform. I've gotten some pretty startled expressions showing people this.

I definitely think that Firefox should have the Master Password functionality enabled by default and should show the user a warning the first time they try to save a password. It seems like such an innocent thing, but having access to passwords in Plain Text is bad in my opinion.

How to protect yourself

Option 1. Turn off the "Remember passwords for sites" feature on the Tools > Options > Security Tab

Option 2. You can actually protect yourself from this flaw pretty easily, but it makes the feature a tad-bit more annoying. There is a "Use a master password" checkbox on the Security Tab too. If you check this box, you will be required to supply a password to be able to view saved passwords, or before you can use them to log into any web sites. Definitely worth it in my opinion even if the chance of someone having access to your workstation is slim.

Option 3. You should really consider locking your workstation when you are away from it anyway. If this isn't a habit that you already have, its really not that hard to start now. Just press the [Windows Key + L] to lock windows before you leave your computer.

Disclaimer

I'm always torn about writing about this kind of thing. Most of you will use the information to protect yourself, your friends and your co-workers. If nothing else, I've always felt that it is better to be aware of something even if a small percentage of people will use it negatively. For those of you thinking of using this to STEAL other people's passwords. Shame On You!

Just to save you a few seconds of attempting to log into my MySpace account. The email address, user names and passwords in the screen shots above have been altered to protect the innocent. =)