tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87044252009-11-11T20:55:11.420+10:00Spy Journal Tech TipsMicrosoft stuff, Linux stuff, Visual Basic stuff, Coldfusion and PHP stuff and other geeky stuff.Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comBlogger361125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-14032999916173184022007-09-25T12:00:00.000+10:002007-09-25T12:01:48.353+10:00New WebsiteIts finally here. <a href="http://www.spyjournal.biz">SpyJournal v3.0</a> was launched this week.<br />These pages will remain for archival purposes. However please change your link for this site directly to <a href="http://www.spyjournal.biz">www.spyjournal.biz</a>. If you are reading via RSS please change your RSS Feed to <a href="http://www.spyjournal.biz/rss.xml">http://www.spyjournal.biz/rss.xml</a> for the whole site feed, or for a <a href="http://www.spyjournal.biz/syndication">custom RSS Feed</a> design your own.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-1403299991617318402?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-46309893391818695232007-09-14T09:55:00.000+10:002007-09-14T10:15:14.358+10:00Vista Service Pack 1 NewsThere is a <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=090deaf6-2eaa-4aaa-8b3b-2e199db4a97d&displaylang=en">beta release out now for Vista SP1</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-4630989339181869523?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-2228705218581007332007-09-05T22:13:00.000+10:002007-09-14T09:54:45.407+10:00Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta<a href="http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/08/29/announcing-the-windows-vista-service-pack-1-beta.aspx">Windows News</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Now is the time and the time is now: let's talk about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1).<br /><br />In addition to updates we’ve previously released, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability and performance issues we’ve identified via customer feedback, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. SP1 also makes additional improvements to the IT administration experience. We didn’t design SP1 as a vehicle for releasing new features; however, some existing components do gain enhanced functionality in SP1.<br /><br />A Beta release of Windows Vista SP1 is slated for availability in the next few weeks. A small group of testers has been putting a preview of the SP1 Beta through its paces to help prepare for broader release. We made the choice to start with a very small group of testers because we think it’s better for both our customers and for Microsoft to keep the beta program small at the start.<br /><br />Nick White</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-222870521858100733?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-82529852942015397942007-09-05T22:09:00.000+10:002007-09-14T09:53:53.845+10:00Flying Cars & New Samsung Monitor<a href="http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/08/mustbuyflyingca.html">Must...Buy...Flying...Car!</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Yes, it's a crappy time to take out a home equity loan, but sell your house if you need to to be financially ready for the groovy new flying saucer from California-based dreamers Mollar Intl.<br /><br />The two-seater M 200G can take off and land vertically and hover 10 feet above the ground, the maximum for an unlicensed pilot. It's successor, the M400, will be able to move on land or air, where it conceivably could hit speeds of 400 mph.<br /><br />Production of the M 200G begins in a few months, according to the company, and the price will be somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on demand.<br /><br />David Becker</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=14685">Samsung Electronics Unveils Two Monitors with VoIP Functions</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Berlin, Germany — August 31, 2007 — Samsung Electronics, a global leader in consumer electronics and digital technology, introduces two 22" monitor models with VoIP functions at IFA 2007, opening the era of video conferencing and video calls.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-8252985294201539794?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-46781796995744458822007-09-05T22:01:00.000+10:002007-09-14T09:50:03.065+10:00Photoshop Ico Filter Plugin<a href="http://www.telegraphics.com.au/sw/dl.php3?file=ICOFormat-1.8b4-win.zip">ICOFormat-1.8b4-win.zip</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Download Available</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-4678179699574445882?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-56309934563073121322007-08-23T09:05:00.000+10:002007-09-05T22:23:25.780+10:00IP address locator<a href="http://realityme.net/2007/08/22/where-are-those-readers/">Where are those readers?</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Do you like looking at your stats files? Do you often wonder just where all those IP addresses come from? For those that do not know, an ip address uniquely identifies a computer on the Internet. Type an ip address into http://www.ip-adress.com/ (note address is spelled with one d) and it will show you a map with an approximate location of the computer.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-5630993456307312132?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-44345111846917784742007-08-17T01:16:00.000+10:002007-08-17T01:48:02.304+10:00Publishing a CalenderI'm going to have to try this - looks awesome!<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2007/08/08/publishing-a-calendar-using-office-online.aspx">Publishing a calendar using Office Online</a><br /><br /><blockquote>In Ben’s previous post, he spoke about sharing a calendar via e-mail. Many people correctly commented that sharing a calendar via e-mail does not support subscriptions and that for items that changed regularly, it was difficult to use. Can Comertoglu (our Calendar Sharing Program Manager for Office 2007) spent some time with Ben to put together this guide on how he uses the Office Online publishing features of Microsoft Outlook 2007 to manage a soccer team.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-4434511184691778474?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-28809579953163851802007-08-16T10:35:00.000+10:002007-08-17T01:46:10.646+10:00Using a Calculator to Access Forbidden WebsitesAnother one from <a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com">Amit</a> - this works well!<br /><a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/08/when-both-domain-name-ip-address-are.html">When both Domain Name & IP Address are banned, Use Calculator to Access that Website</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Wuntoo has written a detailed comment on how to bypass the internet content filtering software of your school or office using just the calculator application (Start->Run. type calc.exe). This unique Mathematics based trick will probably work when websites are blocked in your institution or corporate network based on the host name or their IP address.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-2880957995316385180?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-49939056609974035902007-08-11T20:10:00.000+10:002007-08-17T01:44:42.747+10:00A video to explain social bookmarkingFrom <a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com">Amit</a><br /><br /><a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-explain-delicious-bookmarks-to.html">How to Explain del.icio.us Bookmarks To Your Mom</a></span><br /><br /><blockquote>The brilliant and very creative folks at Common Craft have released another video to help you explain social bookmarking websites like del.icio.us, Furl.net or Magnolia to the the not-so-techie crowd in very simple English.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-4993905660997403590?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-87435076325751147902007-08-08T20:37:00.000+10:002007-08-08T20:39:57.546+10:00Comparing & Combing Documents in Word 2007<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/microsoft_office_word/archive/2007/08/06/comparing-and-combining-documents.aspx">Comparing and Combining Documents</a><blockquote>The document review scenario has been significantly improved in Word 2007. It's pretty straightforward and powerful technology once you have the basic idea. So let's start with getting a grasp around the difference between Word's two document review options: compare and combine. While they both tell you what changed in a document, there is a fundamental difference in the end goal they were each designed for. Compare tells you what changed where as combine tells you who changed what.</blockquote> Follow the above link for the rest of the article<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-8743507632575114790?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-24956085360708656402007-08-07T21:01:00.000+10:002007-08-08T19:41:40.566+10:00Folder permission in Vista, Tablet PC Support & Vista Experience Pack<a href="http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/howdoi/?p=105">How do I… Change access permissions for all folders and files in Vista?</a><br /><br /><blockquote>In a previous How do I… blog post, TechRepublic published the steps one would take to change permissions on a single file in the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. The basic procedure is the same, but there are a few more check boxes to look at during the process. But once those checks are inserted or removed, depending on the situation, the permission changes will be propagated to all of the files and folders below the folder being acted upon.<br /><br />Mark Kaelin</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/tabletPC.mspx">Tablet PC Support</a><br /><br /><blockquote>The Tablet PC ushered in a new era of mobile computing as a single, fully functioning PC that's practical and comfortable while you're on the go and that also works well when you're at your desk. With integrated pen support, touch-screen support, digital-ink input, handwriting recognition technologies, and innovative hardware, ultra-portable Tablet PCs are comfortable and productive virtually anywhere, anytime.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4861aad3-1d67-4b02-bfd5-4add1879d3dc&DisplayLang=en">Microsoft Experience Pack for Windows Vista</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Here are four programs that provide unique functionality and fun to enhance your experience using a Tablet PC. And don’t forget Microsoft Ink Desktop, which is available separately for download.<br /><br />Media Transfer<br />Copy or stream media files from your home computer to your Tablet PC, so that you can enjoy your favorite music, videos, or pictures wherever you go.<br /><br />Ink Crossword<br />Solve crosswords on your Tablet PC using your tablet pen. Twelve puzzles come with Ink Crossword. You can also download a free daily puzzle and purchase more puzzle packs online.<br /><br />Equation Writer<br />Easily add mathematical expressions to your papers. Handwrite a math equation, and then convert it into a neatly typewritten image to paste into a report or a presentation.<br /><br />Ink Flash Cards<br />Create flash cards to help you learn facts or study for an exam. Handwrite a question on the front of a card and put an answer on the back. Draw, insert graphics, and add text, too.<br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-2495608536070865640?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-33213753665064042402007-08-06T21:00:00.000+10:002007-08-08T19:37:29.967+10:00Streaming Radio Stations<a href="http://tun3r.com/">TUN3R</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Search, Browse, and Snack on Radio, with 100's of Streaming Radio Stations to Explore<br /><br />1. Enter an artist you like (e.g. "pink floyd").<br /><br />2. Check the playlist (shown in the bottom left), to see if this station plays what you like.<br />3. Like the station? Click Tune In to listen directly from your media player. Or, click Next match to move the Needle to the next result.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-3321375366506404240?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-76616300297231885792007-08-05T20:58:00.000+10:002007-08-08T19:30:04.177+10:00Macro PicturesJulie writes a great post on how to take great macro photos using pretty basic equipment. I'm definitely going to give this a go when we get our camera back from being repaired.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/diary/julie/how_to_take_great_macro_pictures_without_a_lot_of_equipment">How to take great macro pictures without a lot of equipment</a><br /><br /><blockquote>I receive frequent emails asking me how I take such nice close up (macro) product images for my reviews. As a result, I thought I would share some of my 'secrets' for macro photography. Some people think that if they buy the most expensive bazillion mega pixel DSLR camera on the market, that they will automatically become a professional photographer with the ability to take perfect shots. I've found that while good equipment is very important, you definitely do not have to spend $1000's dollars to get excellent results.<br /><br /><br />My equipment list...<br /><br />Nikon Coolpix 8800 digital camera<br />Nikon Speedlight SB-600 External flash<br />A good place to work (your 'studio')<br />Poster board<br />Adobe Photoshop CS2<br /><br /><br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-7661630029723188579?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-91953075287070988632007-08-04T20:55:00.000+10:002007-08-08T19:23:14.965+10:00Secure WirelessThis looks pretty good - especially if you manage a wireless access point that you give users anonymous access to.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=587"><br />A secure Wireless LAN hotspot for anonymous users</a><br /><br />As ubiquitous and convenient as Wireless LAN Hotspots are, it is probably the single most dangerous technology to the mobile computer user. The two biggest issues with Hotspots is that you have no idea if you’re connecting to a legitimate Access Point or if you’re connecting to a hacker’s fake Access Point and everything you send and receive is transmitted in clear text with no encryption.Hotspots face the classic <br />convenience and usability versus security tradeoff and 999 out of 1000 times the Hotspot will choose convenience and usability.I have seen hotspots that use WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected mode using Pre-Shared Key) to offer some level of privacy, but that’s only private against people who don’t have access to the PSK.<br /><br />But there is actually a better and easier way to set up a secure Wireless LAN hotspot for an anonymous user using a single generic and common username and password that anyone can remember. An interesting property of PKI is that it allows us to do a secure key exchange without any usernames or passwords so long as one side has a trusted digital certificate. This concept is used millions of times a day by ordinary users anytime someone goes to an SSL-secured webpage and the secure authentication channel is set up before the user enters a username and password. The same general concept could be applied to the Wireless LAN world with a slight twist in the implementation.<br /><br />An interesting feature of Wireless LAN security using 802.1x and PEAP mode is that it is possible to log in with the same anonymous guest account with a publicly known password for any number of people and still provide each user with a secure point-to-point link-layer encryption. <br /><br />To implement this solution, we can do this with any typical Wireless LAN Access Point and a RADIUS server (how to set one up). So long as the connection between the Access Point and RADIUS server is secure or there is a sufficiently complex RADIUS secret, each wireless client has complete privacy. In this case since it’s such a simple implementation, the RADIUS server could be embedded in to the Access Point itself which means you don’t even have to worry about the RADIUS secret strength. The RADIUS server does however need a publicly trusted Digital Certificate (how-to guide here) which you can purchase for $20 at places like GoDaddy.com and there’s literally zero difference between that and the $200 Certificates from other Certificate Authorities. <br /><br />A RADIUS server is typically connected to a backend user directory such as Microsoft Active Directory, Novell, or LDAP but this particular application doesn’t require that since we only need a single user account. We can set up a local user in the RADIUS server named “guest” with the password also set to “guest” which is extremely generic and easy to remember. That means when the user connects to this secured Hotspot, they will have to do an initial 802.1x/PEAP setup where they enter in the username and password. Since the credentials are so easy to remember, it’s possible to do a quick-and-dirty setup guide for Windows and Mac with no complicated keys to remember or personalized user credentials. Fortunately, the guest credentials and the entire setup process can be saved for future use and the fact that it’s so generic means that it can be applied consistently on a very large scale.<br /><br />George Ou<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-9195307528707098863?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-84440640634740304822007-08-03T20:18:00.000+10:002007-08-08T18:56:12.719+10:00Logitech Vista GadgetsI am using these cool gadgets in my sidebar with my Logitech IM web camera.<br />The motion detector is a pretty cool one!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/488/558&cl=au,en">Download Vista Gadgets</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Elevate the Power of Windows® Vista™ with Gadgets designed exclusively for use with Logitech products. Turn your QuickCam into a motion detector, capture still pictures quickly and easily, or stay up-to-date with news about new Video Effects. The Vista Gadgets are free, so check back often for updates and new tools for Logitech mice, keyboards, and webcams.<br /><br />QuickCapture Gadget<br />This three-in-one Gadget streamlines how you work with your Logitech QuickCam. QuickPicture enables you to take snapshots with a single click, QuickCapture helps you to record, store and email videos, and QuickView shows you a live feed from your Logitech QuickCam. Use the QuickCapture Gadget to compose and preview your video communications, watch remote rooms and hallways in real time, or even create a "security" monitor by setting the time-delay recording function.<br /><br />Motion Detector Gadget<br />Keep a watchful eye—even when you're not around. This Gadget acts like a motion detection sonar, triggering a recording whenever it senses movement within the field of view of your QuickCam. Recording stops when the motion stops, and an .AVI file is saved in a location you specify. The videos are even time & date stamped to help you keep track of what happened, when.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-8444064063474030482?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-34480890914896163132007-08-02T20:03:00.000+10:002007-08-08T18:51:34.516+10:00Free Technical SupportThis looks like an interesting site to subscribe to, or if you believe you have the skills, to be come a member of and volunteer your assistance.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.protonic.com/">protonic.com : free fast technical support</a><br /><br /><blockquote>protonic.com is an online community that provides technical support to computer users for free. We prefer to call our users "Clients," because we have the philosophy that, despite our service being free, you should still receive the highest quality technical support.<br /><br />Each protonic.com support Technician is a volunteer. We have been featured in many media publications including USA Weekend, Yahoo! Internet Life and .net magazine.<br /><br />If you have a computer problem - anything from hardware to HTML problems - then submit your question to us for help! We support nearly everything: PCs, Macs, Unix and PDAs.<br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-3448089091489616313?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-49895024661320522062007-08-01T19:39:00.001+10:002007-08-08T18:43:03.626+10:00Vista, Sharepoints, OneNote & OutlookI read this article below and it pretty much says what I would have said.<br />However I now have a tablet - will write about that shortly and I find it very useful.<br /><br /><a href="http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/775b27fe-83e1-4da1-82ef-e07772f41a8c1033.mspx">Windows Vista improves productivity, power management for mobile PC users</a><br /><br /><blockquote>When I travel, it isn't always convenient to have both my laptop and my Smartphone with me at all times. That's why I like the capabilities of Sync Center in Windows Vista. I can work on whatever device is most convenient for me at the time, and Windows Vista ensures that the same information appears on both devices.<br /><br />Windows SideShow is another feature getting attention from mobile PC users. It's a new technology that allows you to view important information from your computer on a secondary display, such as a small screen on the outside of a laptop's case.<br /><br />Windows Vista improves the wireless networking experience by consolidating key information in the Network and Sharing Center. From there, I can check my connection status, signal strength, and other properties.<br /><br />When I'm on the go, I'm always worried about how much battery life my laptop has left. How quickly your battery drains depends, in part, on which power plan you select. When I'm home, I use the Balanced power plan, with a few extra settings tweaked. One of the power management settings I've tweaked is what happens when I close my laptop's lid. I've changed the setting so that nothing happens when I close the lid. That way, my e‑mail continues to download and is instantly available when I reopen the lid.<br /><br />One of the major purchases I plan to make within the next year is a Tablet PC—a mobile PC that allows interaction via a tablet pen or, if the computer has a touch-enabled screen, a fingertip. In Windows Vista you can perform specific actions with pen flicks or touch flicks on supported hardware. You can flick your pen in a certain direction and the selection is copied to the Clipboard. What's more, you can customize the pen flicks to perform the actions you choose.<br /><br />I have to make a presentation in front of an audience several times a year. I turn on presentation settings from Windows Mobility Center, a dashboard of sorts for common mobile PC settings. Windows turns off the screen saver, turns off system notifications, and prevents the computer from going to sleep. I can also customize the presentation settings to change the desktop background and adjust the volume level.<br /><br />Jerri Ledford</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/outlook/HA100819871033.aspx">View and update a SharePoint calendar</a><br /><br /><blockquote>You can view and update a SharePoint calendar, just as you do your Outlook calendar.<br /><br />You can view a calendar from a SharePoint site side-by-side with an Outlook calendar, view an overlay of the calendars as if they were one single calendar, and even copy events among the calendars.<br /><br />When you connect a SharePoint calendar to Outlook 2007, it appears under Other Calendars with your calendar folders. You can connect multiple calendars at the same time, such as a team vacation calendar and a project schedule. Depending on your needs, you can choose which calendars you want to work with: a single calendar from a SharePoint site, multiple SharePoint calendars (if you have them), or Outlook calendars. <br /><br />If your team stores its project schedules, conferences, or vacations on a SharePoint calendar, you can view the team calendar simultaneously with your personal calendar and check for conflicts. Additionally, you can copy items back and forth, without leaving Outlook.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/johnguin/archive/2007/07/12/award-winning-powertoy.aspx">OneNote Table of Contents powertoy!</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Nani Courten is another tester on the OneNote team and created an incredibly useful addin for OneNote. There is a group of people sharing a notebook. Each person edits a few pages here and there every so often. Now when I open the notebook, I want to quickly find the most recent changes. If a page was changed last night, I want to see it, and if a page has been unchanged for some amount of time, I'm not as interested in viewing it. Essentially, I want a list of most recently changed pages. Nani created an addin which creates a Table of Contents for the section I'm looking at with the most recently changed pages at the top of the list. Each page in the list is a link to the page: I can see what changed last night, click the link and go straight to that page. <br /><br />You can also delete the column which shows the time the pages were changed and make a table of contents which lists only the page titles. This way the user who posted to the newsgroups about wanting a summary of the pages in a section can get his information as well.<br /><br />Links:<br />The setup files (and remember to exit OneNote, run setup.exe as admin and select to install for all users):<br /><br />http://johnguin.members.winisp.net/Shared%20Documents/TableOfContentsSetup.zip<br /><br />The source (includes setup):<br /><br />http://johnguin.members.winisp.net/Shared%20Documents/OneNote%20Table%20of%20Content.zip <br /><br />John</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2007/07/20/sharing-a-calendar-via-email.aspx">Sharing a calendar via email</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Did you know that you can easily create and share calendars with others in Outlook 2007? with Outlook 2007 this is an absolute joy!<br />I have created a “Bike Races” calendar which I can now use to store all these events. Updating my friends is as simple as clicking on ”Send a Calendar via E-mail…”, selecting the level on detail and choosing my recipients. Outlook is even smart enough to attach a “human friendly” text version of the calendar in the mail body (if I choose).<br />For my friends running Outlook 2007 it’s as simple as choosing to open the calendar when they receive my message. For those who aren’t running Outlook (and yes, there are a few out there), they can still see all the dates and times in the body of the email, and if they have an application that supports iCalender files (RFC 2445) they can also import them. <br />Create the calendar<br /><br />1. Open Outlook<br /><br />2. Select Calendar<br /><br />3. Click File + New + Calendar... <br />4. Enter the calendar name (Bike Races)<br /><br />5. Click on OK <br /><br />One of my favorite features is overlaying calendars in Outlook. To view a calendar in Overlay mode, you can either click the left-arrow icon in the calendar’s tab at the top, or right-click on the calendar in the list and choose “View in overlay mode”.<br />Share the calendar.<br /><br />1. Click on “Send a Calendar via E-Mail…”<br /><br />A new message window will open and the “Send a Calendar via E-Mail” dialogue will be shown.<br />2. Select the “Bike Races” calendar in the Calendar drop down and select the visibility and detail that you want to send.<br /> 3. Click OK <br />4. Enter recipients <br />5. Click send<br /><br />6. You’re done!<br /><br />Benjamin Gay<br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-4989502466132052206?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-9667689425657122007-07-12T14:01:00.000+10:002007-07-12T14:02:58.572+10:00Vista Sidebar Gadget Development, Windows Performance Tweaks and Outlook SPAM Management<a href="http://gadgetdev.blogspot.com/">Sidebar Gadget Security: Inspect Your Gadget</a><br /><br /><blockquote><br />Review a Gadget for Security Bugs<br /><br />As a first order analysis, the following should be carefully reviewed to make sure they are not introducing security bugs.<br /><br /> * Verify that all innerHtml constructs render only trusted or sanitized data.<br /> You can use the innerText property to add untrusted data into the DOM safely.<br /> * Verify that all document.write method calls render only trusted or sanitized data.<br /> Again, use the innerText property to add untrusted data into the DOM safely.<br /> * Verify that all calls into the Gadget object model or ActiveX controls instantiated in the Gadget pass validated data. As an example, be careful when calling System.Sidebar.Execute.<br /> * Verify that all calls to eval() pass validated data.<br /> * Verify that all ActiveX controls used by the Gadget are secure (no buffer overruns, integer overruns, and such). <br /><br />Lawrence James<br /><br />A further link: <a href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb498012.aspx">Guidance on how to develop secure Vista Sidebar Gadgets</a><br /><br /></blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/07/tweaks-to-improve-speed-and-performance.html">Simple Tweaks to Improve the Performance of your Windows PC</a><br /><br /><blockquote> Here are four simple tweaks for your PC that will help improve your overall computing and internet browsing experience.<br /><br />Step 1: Change the IE Concurrent Download Limit - Internet Explorer's default settings only enable you to download up to two downloads at the same time. Optimizing the download settings enables you to download up to 16 files concurrently from the same server.<br /><br />Method - Open registry editor and navigate to the following key:<br /><br />HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings<br /><br />Right click the right pane and select New->DWORD Value. Type MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and give it a value of 16. Add another DWORD using the same process - call it MaxConnectionsPerServer with the same value - 16.<br /><br />Step 2: Disable Windows Indexing Service - The indexing feature consumes system resources, and may adversely affect your system's performance. By disabling the indexing feature, you free up disk space on your computer and may improve its performance.<br /><br />Method - Goto Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. Find the Indexing Service, right click and select "Disable".<br /><br />Step 3: Resize your Internet Explorer Cache - The default cache settings of IE are configured to hold a large number of cached temporary Internet files. However, storing many small files on your hard disk consumes valuable disk space and can cause disk fragmentation. Reduce the maximum size of IE cache to 128MB for optimal performance.<br /><br />Method - Start Internet Explorer, Select Tools -> Internet Options ->General. Under Temporary Internet Files click the Settings button and type the amount of disk space to use.<br /><br />Step 4: Windows Menu Display Speed - Menus are displayed on your computer according to Windows' default settings. By optimizing these settings, you speed up your computer's ability to display (and hide) these menus.<br /><br />Method - Goto Start -> Control Panel -> System. Click the Advanced tab, and under Performance, click the Settings button. Clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box, and then click OK. <br /><br />Amit Agarwal </blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2007/07/05/postmarking-helping-the-fight-against-spam.aspx">Postmarking: helping the fight against SPAM</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Postmarking is a new part of the Outlook 2007 junk e-mail feature; it complements the existing feature set to reduce the amount of spam in your inbox.<br /><br />One of the great advantages of e-mail is that it is easy and cheap to send. Unfortunately, this is the very same reason that makes it so useful to spammers as it enables them to send huge amounts of email in bulk.<br /><br />Think of Postmarking as computational “postage” imposed when sending email. This is a small burden for an individual user, but is a very large burden for spammers. Spammers rely on being able to send thousands of mails per hour, and in order to be able to send spam with postmarking turned on, they would have to invest a very large amount of money to expand their computational power.<br /><br />Postmarking generation is only present in Outlook 2007 and postmark validation is present in Outlook 2007, Windows Live Mail , Exchange 2007, and Windows Mail in Vista. <br /><br />Alessio Roic<br /></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-966768942565712?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-7825030413120702262007-07-12T13:39:00.000+10:002007-07-12T13:42:25.337+10:00Technet in a Vista Sidebar Gadget, More Web 2.0 goodness, and YouTube news<a href="http://blogs.technet.com/itproaustralia/archive/2007/06/20/technet-vista-sidebar-gadget.aspx">TechNet Vista Sidebar Gadget</a><br /><br /><blockquote>The Microsoft TechNet Gadget for Australia and New Zealand delivers information from several of the common news feeds and security alerts.<br />It supports up to 6 feeds with TechNet Highlights and Basic Security Alerts as default options. You can see items that have been read or unread at a glance. The security ticker glows red when there is something that you have not seen before.<br />The integrated TechNet Search means you can type a search query and it will launch a web browser window with the TechNet Search results.<br /><br />itproaustralia</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://tupalo.com/">Tupalo</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Explore your city, find places to eat, shop or hangout. Share your favourites and connect with friends. </blockquote><br /><br /><a href="https://www.anywr.com/en/">anywr</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Socialize with your contacts from anywhere.With anywr you can import and organize your contacts from the tools you already use, for FREE! You can interact with your contacts, manage your calendar and back up your mobile. </blockquote><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/single-sign-on-for-youtube-and-google.html">Single Sign-On for YouTube and Google Account</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Good news YouTube fans - you have one less username / password combination to remember since you can now move your YouTube data to Google account.<br />And if you have never signed-up for YouTube before, you can now create a new YouTube account with your existing Google Account. [you'll still need to supply an additional YouTube username though which is kind of strange]. Everything remains the same except that a new YouTube icon will show up in your Google Account Services page.<br /><br />Amit Agarwal</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-782503041312070226?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-18392086796426528742007-07-12T11:10:00.000+10:002007-07-12T13:58:03.679+10:00DNS Tools, Web Tools, Other Tools<strong>DNS and Web Hosting Tools</strong><br /><a href="http://www.ajaxdns.com/">DNS Tools</a><br /><blockquote><br />Live DNS<br />Whois Search<br />IP Whois<br />HTTP Headers<br />RBL Search<br />Ping<br />DNS Traversal<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph">About The Netcraft Web Server Query Form</a><br /><blockquote>We report a site's operating system, web server, and netblock owner together with, if available, a graphical view of the time since last reboot for each of the computers serving the site.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://whoishostingthis.com/">Who is hosting this?</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Who Is Hosting This is a tool that enables you to find out who is hosting any web site. Simply type in any domain name, and you'll get a link to the company that's hosting this particular domain. It's that simple! </blockquote><br /><br /><strong>Web Tools</strong><br /><a href="http://creator.zoho.com/index.jsp?targetURL=%2Fhome.do">Create Online Database Applications in minutes!</a><br /><br /><blockquote> * Ease of use<br /> Build forms and data views with easy drag and drop controls to create custom applications.<br /> * Convert spreadsheet to online database<br /> Import .xls .csv, .tsv files and start managing your data collaboratively over the web.<br /> * Build powerful applications<br /> Incorporate complex logic in Deluge scripting language effortlessly using Script Builder.<br /> * Embed Forms and Views<br /> Make your forms and views available in your website and blog.<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.software-solutions.co.nz/aladdins_co/alcoabout.asp">Catergory Organisation</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.anywr.com/en/">Socialize with your contacts from anywhere.</a><br /><br /><blockquote>With anywr you can import and organize your contacts from the tools you already use, for FREE!</blockquote><br /><a href="http://questionform.com/">Online Survey Creator</a><br /><br /><a href="http://totd.squarespace.com/tip-of-the-day-blog/2007/6/15/photo-sharing-even-the-folks-can-handle.html">Photo Sharing Even the Folks Can Handle</a><br /><br /><strong>Developer tools</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=e59c3964-672d-4511-bb3e-2d5e1db91038&displayLang=en">Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.debugbar.com/">The DebugBar V4.02</a><br /><br /><blockquote>The DebugBar V4.02 is an Internet Explorer plug-in that bring you new powerful features :<br /><br /> * DOM Inspector: View DOM Tree and modify tags attributs and css attributes on the fly to test your page<br /> * HTTP Inspector: View HTTP/S request to check cookies, GET and POST parameters, view server info<br /> * Javascript Inspector and Javascript Console: View javascript functions for easier debugging, see Javascript and AJAX code<br /> * HTML Validator: Validate HTML code to correct and optimize your code and html size of your page<br /> * And many more features: </blockquote><br /><br /><strong>Other stuff</strong><a href="http://www.masternewmedia.org/presentation/presentation-delivery/PowerPoint-public-presentation-delivery-skills-best-video-clisp-from-TJWalker-20070622.htm">Presentation Delivery: TJ Top Video Tutorials To Boost Your Public Presentation Skills</a><br /><br /><a href="http://lifehacker.com/software/usb-drive/assign-a-custom-icon-to-your-flash-drive-188852.php">Assign a custom icon to your flash drive</a><br /><br /><blockquote>If you use multiple thumb drives on a regular basis, the TipMonkies weblog has an easy way to automatically assign a custom icon to each one when it's plugged into your PC.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.technet.com/itproaustralia/archive/2007/06/20/technet-vista-sidebar-gadget.aspx">TechNet Vista Sidebar Gadget</a><br /><br /><blockquote>We have just released our new TechNet Vista Sidebar Gadget. For those running Windows Vista make sure you download this today. </blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-1839208679642652874?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-11474333247570110712007-06-26T15:43:00.000+10:002007-07-11T21:54:49.178+10:00Outlook, Vista Sidebar Gadgets, New Web 2.0 Tools, Job Tracking Software and More<a href="http://www.software-solutions.co.nz/aladdins_co/alcoabout.asp">Outlook Category Organiser</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Aladdin's sidebar to Outlook that allows instant control over your categories. Select a contact and the categories are assigned, make changes by using the checkboxes. Filter by categories is easy, select the category (or categories) and click Filter...DONE!</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://gallery.live.com/">Make Windows and Windows Live your own</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Sidebar Gadgets, Emoticons, Toolbar Buttons, Web Gadets, Display Pictures, Winks, Side Show Gadgets</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.panoramio.com/">Panoramio</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Map your photos, show your favourite places, organize your photos with tags.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.trivop.com/">The first video guide for Hotels</a><br /><br /><a href="http://questionform.com/">Question Form</a><br /><br /><blockquote>questionform is a web application for creating, publishing and analysing online surveys and forms</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sidejobtrack.com/">Side Job Track</a><br /><br /><blockquote> Create projects, send estimates, track services, invoice clients.<br /><br />With Side Job Track you can quickly and easily manage your side jobs with simple, straightforward project tools. Side Job Track's flexible data entry lets you to decide how to best fit your specific needs. If you have access to a web server, you can even create completely customized estimate and invoice templates.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.morguefile.com/">Morgue File</a><br /><br /><blockquote>A place to keep post production materials for use of reference, an inactive job file. This morgue file contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.yourminis.com/minis/yourminis/yourminis/mini:rsscontainer">RSS Widget</a><br /><br /><blockquote> The RSS widget lets you add your own RSS feeds. Select the widget, type in a title and a URL for the RSS feed to see content for that feed. You can also configure title or description view, change the font, size, mark as read and more through the edit drop down menu. Additionally you can set up multiple RSS widgets and then apply the properties of one widget to all of them, ie color, size, etc.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://pschmid.net/blog/2007/06/17/129">“Clip to OneNote” Firefox Extension</a><br /><br /><blockquote>There is a useful Firefox extension that allows you to send webclippings from Firefox to OneNote. It was developed by Gmx Lee for OneNote 2003. You can get it directly from his website. Even though it was developed for OneNote 2003, it also works with OneNote 2007.<br /><br />Patrick Schmid</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-1147433324757011071?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-83170354493830742832007-06-15T11:19:00.000+10:002007-06-15T11:35:45.706+10:00Sharepoint IE Browser crashWe have been experiencing a weird problem with a client where they had a mixture of Office 2007 and Office 2003 installed.<br /><br />Scenario is this.<br />Full Office 2003 install, One Note 2007 (rocking product) installed.<br />Open sharepoint 2003, or MOSS2007 in IE and try and open files - word, powerpoint, excel, PDF etc.<br />Browser crashes with Memory Exception Error<br /><br />We found the solution from a mixture of websites, primarily <a href="http://www.webtekconcepts.com/2007/05/17/sps-2003-or-moss-sps-2007-crash-ie/">LOST</a><br /><br />The solution we foud to work was<br />Go to “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12” and Delete “OWSSUPP.DLL”<br />Go to start>control panel>add/remove programs and find the Office 2007 product that you have installed. <br />Highlight the product and select the "Change" button that becomes available. From the next screen that appears, choose "Repair" and hit OK. This might take longer than you expect - be patient. <br />Reboot your machine<br /><br />Delicious Tags <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/MOSS2007">MOSS2007</a> <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/sharepoint2007">Sharepoint2007</a> <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/office2007">Office2007</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-8317035449383074283?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-51576064593333113122007-06-13T21:42:00.000+10:002007-06-14T15:07:31.542+10:00Offline Google Reader, Tweak XP, Adobe Patches<a href="http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2007/06/05/google-reader-goes-offline-with-google-gears-and-other-ria/">Google Reader goes offline with Google Gears and other RIA</a><blockquote>"Google Gears is a new service the idea behind is to be able to have desktop functionality and/or to be able to use web-based services when you are not online.Sometimes it also refers to accessing web-based services when you are online, but without having to use the traditional browser, my favourite for a long time has been the Google deskbar (now only available with the Google Desktop)"</blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.totalidea.com/content/index.html">Total Idea</a><blockquote>Download what you were missing with Windows!<br /><br />"Check out OutSource-XP, our backup solution for Microsoft Outlook, or OutNote, our unique software to attach sticky notes to Outlook emails and contacts. If your want to tune your Windows XP, Tweak-XP Pro is what you need. For a free optimization software for Firefox, download our freeware FireTune. Or just download the world's first software to combine optimization and tweaking for Windows Vista: TweakVI."<br /></blockquote><br /><a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/adobe-acrobat-81-for-office-2007-and.html">Adobe Acrobat 8.1 for Office 2007 and Windows Vista</a><blockquote>Adobe has released Acrobat 8 patch compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 programs and Windows Vista. Other than the new PDFmaker add-on for Office 2007, the second most exciting feature is the PDF Preview Handler - you can now view PDF files in Office Outlook 2007 as well as in Windows Explorer on Windows Vista without starting Acrobat or Adobe Reader.<br />Amit Agarwal</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-5157606459333311312?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Lenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120600098856663846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-8943744960840404182007-06-11T12:20:00.000+10:002007-06-11T12:21:07.018+10:00Installing VistaI have had the absolutely glorious fun of installing Vista this weekend. Long weekend, not having to work Monday, combined with PC having unexplained startup failures etc hardened my resolve to try Vista. I'm still unsure if it was a wise move or not, but at least I am (much) better acquainted with the beast.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Short summary</span><br />If you are a light to medium user of a PC using internet, email, office applications and the odd windows game - eg solitaire, then go for it. Get someone else to install Vista for you. You will love the rich easy to use interface, the classy graphics and the ease of use.<br /><br />If you are a medium to heavy user, have specific applications you need to run, want to install scanners, printers, cameras, gaming devices etc then please read the following carefully "DO NOT INSTALL VISTA on a critically needed machine, on your only machine, if you do not have 2-3 days to waste fixing /researching problems drivers etc or do not have broadband"<br /><br />Starting with the install, heres a list of some of the problems I have had so far.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Install</span><br />I have a mirrored raid drive for a system drive and 3 500Gb other drives. Vista was good enough to pick up the Raid drive and would have installed on it if I hadn't selected the option to change things. When I wanted to back out I couldn't and had to end up exiting the install. On restarting the install the array had broken, and I had to rebuild the raid array. Vista did however find the drive an after a short (presumably quick NTFS) format (there are no options) It installed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Connecting to the domain</span><br />Most users wont have this problem unless they are running a server with a domain for user authentication and logon. I had made the first user on Vista Admin. When I connected to the domain it created a user account for me using my user name, Tim. After I installed Office I tried connecting Outlook. However my previous use of Outlook had been in a user folder called Tim.Jethro (user_name.domain_name) Outlook refused to start. renaming the folder didn't help. After several tries at removing and re adding users I ended up reinstalling Vista and setting the first user as Tim (on the local machine domain). When I connected to the server domain it successfully created a Tim.Jethro folder in the users folder (to distinguish from the local user Tim folder). Installed Office and Outlook worked! Along the way I discovered that when installed, the Administrator account (system admin account for the local machine) is created with no password and then disabled by default. I have gone back and enabled it and then set a password. Note the only way to do this is to log in with your first user account, go to the advanced users tab and edit the Administrator account and uncheck the Account is disabled box) Then you have to log in with the Administrator account (no password) then click CTRL-ALT-DELETE and change the password.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Installing Drivers</span><br />I spent a lot of time researching and downloading drivers for my hardware and peripherals. Lots of time!<br />My canon scanner installed fine but refuses to find a TWAIN source to scan from. I have yet to resolve this one.<br />Check my Delicious tags for <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/vista">Vista</a> and <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/drivers">Drivers</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Installing Applications</span><br />Lots wouldn't work at all. Some had compatibility issues. Some were outright difficult. Installed ok, then buggy when running. Some refused to recognise the options set in my user account from the previous install on Windows XP.<br />I found this <a href="http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=5175">Vista Application Compatibility</a> page helpful.<br />Virtual CD / DVD software refuses to work or even install in some cases. That means I have to get the original cds from bookcases, cd folders or system boxes etc, instead of from the ISO archive I have on a file server on my network. Frustrating.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Using Vista</span><br />I have two 22" widescreen monitors. I have different applications on different screens for productivity reasons. I liked XP's ability to remember where an application opened last and its size (maximised or not) I have yet to find this feature in Vista.<br />Generally using Vista is ok once you get used to the new interface of explorer. There are some nice features and the graphics are pretty sweet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Recommendations</span><br />I am not going to be installing Vista on any other PCs in the near future. I will be waiting until I have at least 12 hours free time - a luxury for me! (Doug take note!)<br />I will always keep an XP box available with the applications I need on it available - even after I get around to converting all my users PC's over (one day).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-894374496084040418?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8704425.post-83320592373357944832007-06-11T10:45:00.000+10:002007-06-11T11:22:52.031+10:00SBS2003 Service Pack 2 and WSUS 3Well I wish I had read Susan's "<a href="http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2007/06/01/before-you-install.aspx">Before you install Service Pack 2 guide</a>" first. Fortunately nothing major went wrong.<br /><br />2 weekends ago I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade my SBS2003 server to service pack 2. In case you were unaware, there was a fair amount of angst about this service pack within the SBS community. Susan had written numerous articles, and I had decided not to upgrade until this kerfuffle had died down.<br />Anyway I backed up the server first, and read through pages and pages of how to's and install notes before finally just going what the heck and doing it. As it happened, the server behaved itself perfectly. I thought I was home free!<br /><br />Well nearly.<br /><br />I had one PC that refused to connect immediately, but eventually I fixed its network card drivers and got it back on the network. I have had 1 other PC that also struggles to connect and 3 PC's that will only connect at 100mbs even thought they have 1GB cards and are on a 1GB switch. Very annoying. However in the light of what could have gone wrong not too bad a result. And I WILL fix them ... eventually!<br /><br />I decided to go for broke and installed WSUS 3 immediately afterward. Surprisingly this also worked smoothly. My SBS box just loved it. Over the next few days as PC's reported in I got heaps of updates sorted for PS that had refused to download updates from the old WSUS 2 server. I don't have all my pcs with absolutely perfect update health yet, but I'm almost there. At the time of writing I have 2 pcs looking for 1 patch. Should be able to get that sorted soon!<br /><br />Check out my delicious tags, <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/SBS2003">SBS2003</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/jethrocon/patches">Patches</a><br /><br />Susan also has written a short post about <a href="http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2007/06/01/installing-sql-2005-sp2.aspx">installing the SQL server 2005 SP2</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8704425-8332059237335794483?l=www.spyjournal.biz%2Ftechtips%2Ftechtips.html'/></div>Jethrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06946590523542404325noreply@blogger.com