How to Turn Off Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration in Windows Server 2008
December 22, 2009
The Internet Explorer Enhanced Security config is in not in your standard spot as in Server 2003.
1) Go to Server Manager
2) Select the root folder of the navigation pane for Service Manager
3) Click Configure IE ESC
4) When the dialog box shows up, enable / disable for users and admins.
5) The end 
Symantec’s PIFTS.exe
March 10, 2009
Symantec released an update March 9th, 2009. This update was not given a digital signature to allow it to clear through Symantec’s firewall, so there was an alert that Norton was giving. The alert said that it didn’t know what PIFTS.exe was and that it could potentially be dangerous. And no, it was not dangerous.
Well this update has since been pulled by Symantec, however there are many search results in Google giving false information about PIFTS.exe. Most of them are malware / spyware programs attempting to get their claws into the unknowing public.
I am not going to talk about the forum problems Symantec was having. It’s not my place to write that story here.
I am just writing a quick note that PIFTS.exe is a Symantec update and there shouldn’t be anymore worries about it. Just don’t download any programs saying it will fix PIFTS.exe. If you did accidentally did download a piece of malware, then I recommend using Malware Bytes Anti-Malware program. It’s the one I use to clean up malware and other crud that shouldn’t be in systems.
Issue Printing an email from Outlook 2003
January 22, 2009
Outlook 2003
I had an issue lately where a user was unable to print from an email in her Inbox. She would open up the email she wanted to print, select file, then print. The print option would not open. It was if she did not hit the print button at all. All the other applications would print ok. It was just inside an open email that would not print.
Below are steps I used to attempt to resolve the issue. I will state right now that she had other OS issues going on so her problem was not resolved. However I did find some good articles and steps to take which may prove more fortunate to others.
First and foremost, I found that I was unable to select different printers in the print option of the email. All the printers were greyed out. It was only after I selected ‘Table mode’ that I was able to switch between other printers. I did not want to print the email in table mode though. I needed the memo mode.
Next I attempted simple techniques. I attempted reinstalling the printer, I tried right clicking the email in the list and selecting print. It was if the memo option for printing did not exist. I did find an obscure Microsoft KB [http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;821297] indicating that there was a known bug for the issue.
I was not about to give up there. I found an Experts-Exchange post which included steps in repairing what seemed to be the exact issue I was having.
Try starting Outlook once with the /cleanviews command line switch.
It could be a problem with your outlprnt file, which you can rebuild:
1. Close Outlook.
2. Click Start > Search.
3. Select All files and folders.
4. In the All or part of the file name box type “Outlprnt” (without the quotes) and then click Search.
5. When the search process is complete, right-click Outlprnt, and then click Rename.
6. Type Outlprnt.old, and then press ENTER.
7. Close the Search window.
8. Restart Outlook 2003.
9. On the File menu, point to Page Setup, and then click Print Styles.
10. Click the Memo style, and then click Close.If those don’t work, I’d have to suggest a repair/reinstall.
The suggestion from Experts Exchange seemed like it was going to work, however when I attempted a search, I found that the search function on this user’s PC was corrupt and missing. That’s when I decided to reinstall the PC all together.
Although I did not resolve my issue, I hope the steps above will help others with the same problem. I think the ‘Outlprnt’ may have been the issue, however I was unable to verify that problem on my end.
The registry cannot load the hive (file)
November 6, 2008
Problem: The following blue screen appears
STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.
After the message, the computer automatically reboots.
These solutions assume that you have decent knowledge of the windows directory structure and command line. You must boot into the Windows XP CD and select Recovery Console. This is where the nitty gritty starts.
Solution 1:
cd system32\config
ren software software.bak
copy c:\windows\repair\regback\software
If for any reason, there is no regback (which occurs in many cases), then you will have to use Solution 2.
Solution 2:
cd system32\config
ren software software.bak
copy c:\windows\repair\software
[reboot]
Warning: This second solution will allow Windows to bootup. However it will restore the system to it’s first successful installation time. Registry entries will not exist for installed products. If you get to this stage, it is good to perform a System Restore on the computer to an earlier time. If you cannot perform a restore, then you might as well start reinstalling software that is essential.
To my knowledge (as of the time of writing this), If you get to this point, you might as well pull the data you have to get off and reinstall the OS. Otherwise, if you can work around it, then things should of course be peachy.
Any comments and suggestions are welcome. I will modify this article accordingly.
WordPress Upgrade
August 22, 2008
I recently upgraded to the lastest WordPress 2.6.1 (From 2.5). One thing that I have to say is when the upgrade is complete, it may appear that you can’t login to WordPress. Don’t go requesting a new password. Instead, clear out your browser cookies and try again.
The instructions recommend clearing cookies before attempting to log back in. I myself reset the password about 5 times before I actually read the detailed instructions on what to do aftewards. I hope this helps somewhere.
Dell Disables the Stereo Mix
July 10, 2008
I have seen multiple reports of Dell disabling the stereo mix option or the wave option for recording. People who are attempting to record Skype conversations and such are finding that it will not work.
The reason it has been disabled apparently is because the RIAA has requested it to be disabled to prevent piracy and Dell has programmed their drivers to do so. I personally don’t agree to these terms and I won’t get into how disappointed I am with Dell.
Anyway, the link below will lead you to a resolution to the problem. I personally don’t have a Dell system so I can’t verify the functionality of the fix.
http://www.ekhoury.com/2006/08/25/sigmatel-stereo-mix-support-for-dells/
Twitter WordPress Setup (with RSS)
March 18, 2008
It took me a while to sort of figure out how to put a twitter feed on the blog. Basically I was running myself in loops in the wrong direction so to put it in, this is how you do it…
1) Log into WordPress. When you get in, go into your ‘Presentation’ tab and select Widgets.
2) Insert the ‘RSS 1′ widget and configure it for the RSS feed of your twitter. (You can find the RSS feed on the bottom of your twitter page).
3) Save the widget and the RSS of your twitter should show up in your wordpress.
This sort of tutorial would have saved me an hour or so of setup. I hope it helps someone out.
Macbook Air
January 17, 2008
I went to MacWorld 2008 yesterday (Wednesday). This was my first time at any Mac event so it was an interesting experience.
First off, I did get the chance to handle the MacBook Air and I am not too impressed with it, and here are my thoughts.
1) There are no firewire ports.
2) There is no Network Plug.
3) The battery is built in.
4) The missing optical drive is just not cool.
I think it’s important to have some firewire ports for certain reasons. First, since the hard drive is obviously built in with no easy access to it, having the MacBook Air will make data recovery situations virtually impossible. I have worked in the data recovery business and I think not having any easy / exclusive access to the hard drive is a bad idea. Also, it eliminates remote reinstallation of the OS through firewire which again I think is a bad idea. I think that having a firewire port for failsafe type operations is extremely important in case things go south with the Notebook.
Not having a network plus I think is something bad waiting to happen. For example, software installation relies on the Wireless card. What if the wireless card goes sour? You would not only be looking at a notebook that would be internet-less but also a laptop that can not have software installed on it. That would suck if the laptop is out of warranty, you just purchased your new Adobe Suite and the card burns out. Bad combo. With laptop network connectivity, you should always have 2 ways of getting into the laptop.
The battery being built in is just bad. There have been many people who have experienced the issue where the laptop freezes and the power button does not work. Detaching the laptop battery and reattaching it gives the laptop a good cold reboot to resolve the issue. Since the battery is built in, how are you gonna do a hardware reset if the laptop has a little glitch. Not good.
The missing optical drive is just a way of apple saying, “Our product is cool, especially without an optical drive”. Sure they have the remote installation of software using a different computer, but that’s just a jenky way of getting around it. Apple tries to make having a missing optical drive look cool but fail miserably. What if you want to burn a CD? What if a client has all their reports on a CD? Especially with the price tag attached to this laptop.
I wish I had more than a few hours to explore all the booths in great detail, but we did have to skim through both the South Hall and the West Hall. Either way, I look forward to next year and dedicating more time into the Expo.
Format a Word Without Typing A Document
November 21, 2007
Have you ever wanted to format your Word Document before you start writing up the document itself? There’s a quick and easy way to have Microsoft Word type up a ‘dummy’ document for you so you can get the formatting done correctly.
First, Open up Word.
(This works in any MS Office 97 and above program).
In Word, have it open a blank document if it hasn’t done so already.
Type in ‘=rand(8,10)’ (without the quotes), then hit enter.
Word will type up random sentences according to the input.
The first number (‘8′), indicates how many paragraphs you want to make.
The second number (‘10′) indicates how many sentences you want in each paragraph.
So… for example, if you want to make a document with 9 paragraphs and 4 sentences in each paragraph, you would use this command…
=rand(9,4)
Whether you are writing a newspaper style document or just writing a report, it’s sometimes easier document formatted before you begin. It may not be Word’s most powerful feature. However it can be a useful one if you don’t want to spend all that time formatting a document after it’s completed trying to make a deadline.
Click the link below to see an example of the process.
Outlook crashes with an ntdll.dll
August 10, 2007
Thanks to Dan for posting a fix to the Outlook crashes that many people have been experiencing. It all turned out to be Cloudmark ..here’s the fix.
In Vista, go to C:\Users\[Profile Name]\AppData\Local\ and rename the Cloudmark folder to Cloudmark.bad.
In XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\[Profile Name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Cloudmark and rename the Cloudmark folder to Cloudmark.bad.
Then start up Outlook and you’re good to go. You do not need to uninstall or reinstall Cloudmark.
UPDATE:
In order to preserve your whitelist settings, you’ll want to copy 2 files over from the old directory to the new directory.
1. Close Outlook.
2. Copy the files cdol_firstunblock.dat and cdol_whitelist.dat from your old \Cloudmark.bad\SpamNet directory to your new \Cloudmark\SpamNet directory.
3. Restart Outlook.
