I've canceled my installation of Visual Studio 2008 and when I now try to install it again I get an error and can't continue. Can't unistall either so I found a tool supplied by Microsoft. It will remove all the components so that I can run the installation again.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 RC/RTM uninstall tool

If you need to change your KEY for Windows 2008 server there is a nice way to do this.

   1. Open the command prompt and change working directory to System32 directory
   2. Type in slmgr.vbs -ckms (this clears and KMS entry you may have)
   3. Type slmgr.vbs -upk (this removes any product key installed)
   4. Type slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx (where the x's is the new product key you want to use )
   5. Type slmgr.vbs -ato (this activates the server)

To do the same thing in Windows 2003 server follow these instructions.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents

%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

I've just installed Spotify on my Nokia E75 and I like it. Been waiting a while for the Symbian version but now it's here. I listen to spotify every day on my computer so this is a nice application.

Go get it here http://www.spotify.com/en/mobile/symbian/

EDIT: After about 3hrs of use I feel that i would like to be able to change tracks with the hands free. I'm just able to adjust the volume.

UPDATE:

If you would like to try out windows 7 you should since it's a great OS. But if you like me need to connect to VmWare's VsPhere 4 you need to read this post. It's taken from a tread at vmware communities.

In short this is what you need to do is the following:

1. Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non Windows 7

machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed.

2. Create a folder in the Windows 7 machine where the vSphere client is installed and copy the file from step 1 into this folder. For example, create the folder under the vSphere client launcher installation directory (+%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib+).

3. In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a <runtime> element and a <developmentMode> element as shown below. Save the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 
<configuration> 
... 
<runtime> 
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/> 
</runtime> 
</configuration> 

3. Create a batch file (e.g. *VpxClient.cmd*) in a suitable location. In this file add a command to set the DEVPATH environment variable to the folder where you copied the System.dll assembly in step 2 and a second command to launch the vSphere client. Save the file. For example,

SET DEVPATH=%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
"%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe"

4. (Optional) Replace the shortcut on the start menu to point to the batch file created in the previous step. Change the shortcut properties to run minimized so that the command window is not shown.

You can now use the VpxClient.cmd (or the shortcut) to launch the vSphere client in Windows 7.

Note that this workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism so that assembly versions in the DEVPATH folder are no longer checked. Handle with care.

I've attached the DLL-file so you don't have to look around for the file.

System.dll.zip (1.05 mb)

I'm migrating a Small Business Server 2003 to Small Business Server 2008 and I hit a problem. The source server is in English and the target server is in Swedish. You need to run sourcetool.exe to prepare the source server AD Schema. This tools fails if you take the tools folder from a Swedish media. (or any other than the language of the source server). The error you get is UnableToModifyError(6)

I found the solution after a few hours of Google. Change the name of the folder called sv-se located in the adprep folder. In my case I change from sv-se to en-us. Then run the sourcetool.exe again with success.

Big thanks to this blog and this thread. Saved my day!

My work laptop is a HP 6730b and i'm not that pleased with it. Especially when I place it in the dock and power it up. The problem is that I need to have the laptop open and to login with the laptop. Then I can close the lid. If I don't follow this procedure I wont get the desired effect. I've thought this is a HP problem since I did not experience this at all with my last Fujitsu Lifebook.

Then I found some articles about Transiet Multimon Manager and how this is a service in Vista that helps me with my displays or at least it tries to help me.

Toms hardware explains this service in short.
Transient Multi-Monitor Manager or  Transient Multimon Manager (TMM) is a cool Windows Vista Feature that simplifies the setup of display configurations on mobile computers.Windows Vista Transient Multimon Manager is targeted at improving the user experience of connecting and disconnecting external displays Transient Multimon Manager (TMM) can place a mobile computer display (for example, a laptop computer display) into clone view when a new monitor is detected.TMM is enabled by default in Windows Vista. TMM automatically finds external displays at boot, it can also remember settings of the same external display if you connect it later.If you are not using an external monitor, or don't switch back and forth always then turn TMM off.This is the 2-3 second delay followed by a blank black screen as Windows Vista searches for monitor changes when you startup Vista.

So I need to start my computer without having it in the docking station and then logon and afterwards place it in the dock. Before I had to restart my computer to get the external screen working.

Conclusion is that Microsoft have made feature that work for persons who have a docking station at work and then work at home sometimes and always shutting their PC down. I use my computer alot and when I leave one customer i hibernate or put the computer in sleep mode. So this is a nice feature for some but not implemented right. In other words a normal windows feature.

I needed a way to get the password for a VPN tunnel. I got access to the firewall but the password is encrypted. I found this great page where you can reverse the hash to your key. For now i'm happy that it's possible but is it really?

Take me to Coreygilmore.com

If you are in the need of moving the contents of the %systemroot%\csc folder for some reason(lack of space on C:) you need to use a tools called cachemov.exe. I found this very easy but harder to find the actual tool.

Download the file below unzip and run. It will ask you for which partition to store the files on and then the waiting game starts. This does only work in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. There are some DLL-files missing if you try running the file in Vista and i guess Windows7.

cachemov.zip (46.95 kb)

To save bandwidth in a network or to enforce the company IT-policy you might need to block Spotify in some way. Spotify is using several ports to login(4070, 443 and 80). 443 and 80 is ports that you don't want to block.

Block the following IP-range: 78.31.8.0 MASK: 255.255.248.0
The user Daze have a nice solution for the Cisco guys at this forum but with 255.255.248.0 in the mask.

Then all you need to do is to wait for the first user to call and complain :)

If you have a MSA or another SAN solution you can increase the performance of the hardware a lot with the help of the diskpart tool that's available thru the prompt. This is only for windows 2003 since windows 2008 will align the partitions by default.

1. Create the machine and the disk.
2. Mount the disk in an existing virtual machine.
3. Delete all partitions on the disk.
4. Open a promt and execute diskpart.exe
5. At the Diskpart command prompt, type List Disk and press Enter. If the disk you want to align does not appear in the list make sure that it exists and is accessible using the Disk Management snap-in.
6. At the Diskpart command prompt, type Select Disk X, where X is the number of the disk as shown in the output of the List Disk command. Diskpart should return a message that indicates that Disk X is the selected disk.
7. At the Diskpart command prompt, type Create Partition Primary Align=X, where X is either 32 or 64, depending on the recommendation from your storage vendor. If your storage vendor does not have any specific recommendations, it is recommended that you use 64.
8. Shutdown the machine and and mount the disk in the intended machine.

This is the same steps as I found in this article on Technet.