Replies

Hi Jim,

Have you tried converting the .pdf-files to .xls? I’ve had good experiences with Zamzar (http://www.zamzar.com/). Of course your mileage may vary, but it’s free (unless you sign up, which is not required).

Depending on the size of the source files, conversion may take some time. You’ll receive a download link in your mailbox once the conversion has finished.

Roelof

It’s possible your back-up utility expects a single filename, without parameters. Creating a batch file to execute the command might work. If you open Notepad (or a similar program), enter these lines

Code:

@ECHO OFF
%windir%system32sndrec32.exe /play /close %windir%Mediachimes.wav

… and save them as PLAYSND.CMD, you can specify the name of that batch file in the application. (You’ll probably need to specify the full path.)

Roelof

Hi,

This will probably work for Windows XP:

sndrec32.exe /play /close %windir%Mediachimes.wav

For Windows Vista, you could try this (I have not tested this myself):

SoundRecorder.exe /play /close %windir%Mediachimes.wav

Any .wav file will do, just make sure the directory path is correct. If the directory or file name contain spaces you will need to use quotation marks, e.g.:

sndrec32.exe /play /close “C:Program FilesSyslogdSoundsAlarm.wav”

Roelof

There are some limitations (beside the fact that you have to install the application on offer within the 24 hour time frame): the software is only for non-commercial use and, if I remember correctly, you are not allowed to upgrade the application when a new version is released.

There are two ways to disable Adobe Reader’s automatic update function:

The “Adobe Customization Wizard” (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3993 for Adobe Reader 9.x) can be used to create a transform file for the original package. This is useful if you’re planning to deploy a new version of Adobe Reader with (for example) Active Directory Group Policy. It’s a very user-friendly tool with a lot of powerful features.

If you would like to disable the update functionality after the application has been deployed, you will need to modify the registry on the client pc’s, either directly (probably not an option) or by means of a (Visual Basic) script or custom administrative template. This site provides some useful information about the relevant registry keys: http://www.shivaranjan.com/2008/07/30/how-to-disable-automatic-update-in-adobe-acrobat-adobe-acrobat-3d-and-adobe-reader-using-registry/. (You’ll need to change the key to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesAdobeAcrobat Reader9.0FeatureLockdown” for Adobe Reader 9.x.) Make sure you test any changes before deploying them in a production environment!

Note that whichever way you choose, you will need Adobe’s permission to deploy Adobe Reader within a corporate network. You may apply for a license at http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/rdr_distribution1.html. This is usually a formality.

Other useful resources:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/solutions/it/
http://www.gpanswers.com (free registration required for access to some areas)
http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=1303

As far as Java is concerned, AppDeploy’s Package KB (http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/browse.asp?cat=alpha&str=j) will probably hold some clues. It pays to read through all of the entries for your particular Java version – a bit tedious, but it’s saved me a lot of headaches in the past.

The command line version of 7-Zip (http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7za465.zip or http://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/files/7-Zip/9.13/7za913.zip/download for the latest bèta version) can be very useful for batch actions, from a command prompt or a batch file. It might take some time to figure out the required parameters, though.

7-Zip is free for both personal and commercial use.

You don’t need to be paranoid to have reservations about Google DNS. I’m using Google’s search engine a lot, but I strongly dislike the idea of Google controlling even more of my browsing experience than they do now.

I’ve been using OpenDNS both at work and at home for almost a year now. I had anticipated slower response times when we switched from our ISP’s DNS servers, instead DNS queries resolve much faster. Although faster browsing is a pleasant bonus, better security was the main reason to switch to OpenDNS. I have a strong feeling Google DNS may prove to be even faster, but I doubt whether their claims about increased security should be taken seriously – their track record so far doesn’t impress me much.

If this only happens to your co-worker, than this might help:

In Excel, click Tools, Options, General, Web Options, Files, uncheck “Update links on save”.

…but that would prevent all .xls files from being scanned, wouldn’t it?

That’s correct. But, since Larry himself states

I use workbooks quite often, that are created on my PC, so I don’t have any worry about viruses.

the risk seems limited. And as far as I can tell, this setting only applies to the resident scanner; it’s still possible to run a ‘manual’ scan on suspicious Excel files.

…you can slave the old drive into the new computer as a secondary drive and then move your data to your new HD.

Are you sure about this? I’d be surprised if you could get this to work. Since both hard drives have a partition marked as active, I would expect the BIOS to report an error and halt the system.

You may be able to boot from a CD or DVD and copy data from one drive to another, but I don’t think you will be able to boot from one of the hard drives. Knoppix would be my choice for a live CD that will allow to move data between the drives, but there may well be better (smaller) alternatives. (The ISO file for Knoppix may take some time to download, it is almost 700 MB.)

Do you backup the System State in the same backup job? When the Exchange databases reside on the system drive, the Exchange Server 2003 storage group is frozen during the System State backup operation, and NTBackup won’t be able to continue the Exchange backup. I’d expect some errors to show up in the event logs, though…

Most providers offer webmail functionality nowadays. If you just want to be able to check for new email from another computer, than the use of webmail is probably the easiest way to accomplish this. All you need is a system with access to the internet and a fairly recent browser, the link to your provider’s webmail and of course the credentials needed to log in to your mailbox.

Have you tried to add *.xls as an exception (or *.xlsx if you’re using Office 2007), instead of the full path to EXCEL.EXE?

This sounds like a driver issue. Did you upgrade the printer drivers perhaps?

If the laser printers are connected to the network (instead of locally to a USB or LPT port), you may be able to speed up printing by modifying the network port settings on the system(s) (print server?) to which they are connected. My guess is the ports are currently configured for “RAW” printing instead of “LPR”. If you change these settings from RAW to LPR, the printer will handle a larger part of the print task. Click “File”, “Server Properties…” in the Printers applet to configure these settings. Select the port you wish to modify on the “Ports” tab and click “Configure Port…”.

There is a catch, though: you’ll need to know the queue name for LPR printing. For Xerox it’s usually lp (no capitals, this is case-sensitive), for Hewlett Packard it’s (oddly enough) raw. I suppose you can find the necessary settings for your printer’s make in the user manual.

Do you log on to your XP computers using a password? As far I know, you cannot connect to a remote XP computer when that system has no password protected user account(s). It’s been a while since I’ve been using Windows 98, I don’t recall whether it behaves differently in this respect.

One of the downsides of a workgroup environment is the lack of a computer registering which resources (shared folders, printers) are available and which aren’t. Discovery of networked resources will take place when the network interface is initialized (at system startup), this process may not be repeated until the next power cycle (unless some application triggers it, of course). So typically, the last system to boot up will show more devices in “My Network Places”.