Ardamis http://www.ardamis.com Ardamis is a tiny web development studio specializing in high-quality, handmade web sites. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:18:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Anti-virus software recommendations http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/08/anti-virus-software-recommendations/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/08/anti-virus-software-recommendations/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:59:28 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=502 As an IT guy in a good-sized law firm, I’m sometimes asked to make recommendations for anti-virus software.

For real-time protection that is always running on your computer, I like Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that helps guard against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

If you don’t want to install software that runs all the time, but just want to run a scan now and then, I’d suggest Windows Live OneCare safety scanner.

Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

If you don’t trust Microsoft, SUPERAntispyware has a terrible name but a good track record.

The SUPERAntiSpyware FREE Edition offers real-time blocking of threats.
http://www.superantispyware.com/

The SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner can be run from a USB flash drive or CD without installlation.

The SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner does not install anything on your Start Menu or Program Files and does not need to be uninstalled. Just download it and run it whenever you want.
http://www.superantispyware.com/portablescanner.html

Personally, I run Microsoft Security Essentials, and then do supplemental scans with the SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/08/anti-virus-software-recommendations/feed/ 0 Word 2007 macros for converting symbols to HTML entities http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/02/word-2007-macros-for-converting-symbols-to-html-entities/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/02/word-2007-macros-for-converting-symbols-to-html-entities/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:24:08 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=443 I’m often given copy for web sites as Word documents. As one would expect, these documents contain all sorts of symbols that should be converted to entities before they can be used in a web page.

For example, ’smart quotes’ (curly quotes), trademark and registered symbols, em-dashes, and other symbols look great, but can cause problems if you just drop them into a page and don’t use the corresponding character encoding.

Rather than do a global find-and-replace in my HTML editor, I’ve written a few Word macros that replace these symbols.

The first macro, CleanupHTML, replaces smart quotes with straight quotes. The second macro, PrettyHTML, replaces smart quotes with the correct pretty quote, ala ’.

At some point, I want to extend the macro to replace accented characters, such as è, and also to wrap bold and italics in <strong> and <em> tags. Ideally, I’d also find a way of converting lists in Word to straight text wrapped in unordered list items, as lists seem to require the most cleanup when copying and pasting.


Sub CleanupHTML()
'
' CleanupHTML Macro
' Cleanup document for HTML by replacing special characters with entities.
'
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "&"
        .Replacement.Text = "&amp;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "©"
        .Replacement.Text = "&copy;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "®"
        .Replacement.Text = "&reg;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "™"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8482;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "--"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8212;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "—"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8212;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "–"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8211;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "…"
        .Replacement.Text = "..."
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "'"
        .Replacement.Text = "'"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = """"
        .Replacement.Text = """"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

Sub PrettyHTML()
'
' PrettyHTML Macro
'
'
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "&"
        .Replacement.Text = "&amp;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "©"
        .Replacement.Text = "&copy;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "®"
        .Replacement.Text = "&reg;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "™"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8482;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "--"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8212;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "—"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8212;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "–"
        .Replacement.Text = "&#8211;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "…"
        .Replacement.Text = "..."
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = ChrW(8220)
        .Replacement.Text = "&ldquo;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = ChrW(8221)
        .Replacement.Text = "&rdquo;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "'"
        .Replacement.Text = "&rsquo;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "è"
        .Replacement.Text = "&egrave;"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindContinue
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = False
        .MatchWholeWord = False
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
End Sub

Many thanks to
http://celebritycola.blogspot.com/2004/09/preserving-formatting-when-posting.html for getting me started on this.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/03/02/word-2007-macros-for-converting-symbols-to-html-entities/feed/ 0 Fixing Word 2007 add-in issues with a registry merge http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/26/fixing-word-2007-add-in-issues/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/26/fixing-word-2007-add-in-issues/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:48:20 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=497 Many of the problems with Word 2007 are due to Word’s handling of add-ins. Add-ins are often used to add tabs and groups to the ribbon. As Word opens, it attempts to load each add-in. If something unexpected happens while an add-in is being loaded, Word will react by disabling it. Depending on the severity of the problem, the add-in can be either ’soft-disabled’ or ‘hard-disabled’.

In this post, I’ll explain how to programmatically fix problems caused when Word disables add-ins. I don’t attempt to determine why Word isn’t able to successfully load an add-in in the first place. However, I’ve watched Word fail to properly start up and blame it on an add-in that has worked without issue for weeks on end. What’s more, after re-loading the add-in, Word and the add-in will work fine for weeks more. So, it may not be a particular add-in is malfunctioning, but that Word’s handling of add-ins generally is flaky.

Microsoft explains the differences between Hard Disabled vs Soft Disabled in a MSDN article at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms268871(VS.80).aspx, but I’ll paraphrase here.

Hard-Disabled Add-ins

Hard-disabling occurs when the add-in causes the application (Word) to close unexpectedly. The problem was so serious that Word crashed.

If an add-in has been ‘hard-disabled’ by Word 2007, it will appear in the Disabled Application Add-ins list. To see which add-ins have been hard-disabled, click on the Office Button -> Word Options -> Add-Ins, and scroll down to “Disabled Application Add-ins”.

To manually restore a hard-disabled add-in, first, enable the add-in by selecting “Disabled Items” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, selecting the add-in to re-enable, and clicking the Enable button. Then load it by selecting “COM Add-Ins” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, and placing a check in the box next to the Add-In.

Each hard-disable add-in will have an entry in the DisabledItems registry key at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency\DisabledItems

The entry name is some sort of hash/random binary value, rather than the name of the add-in. You can look at the hex of each and identify the specific add-in, but programatically re-enabling them is most easily done by deleting the entire Resiliency key. This makes it an ‘all or nothing’ situation.

Disabling adds a binary value for each addin with a name that’s randomly generated. The Resiliency key exists if there is at least one disabled item, but if you re-enable the addin then the Resiliency key and DisabledItems subkey are both deleted. So the presence of the Resiliency key serves as a general test for the existence of disabled items. You can re-enable the addin by deleting the specific binary reg value, or by removing the whole key.
http://help.lockergnome.com/office/Outlook-constantly-disabled–ftopict876175.html

Soft-Disabled Add-ins

Soft-disabling occurs when an add-in throws an unhandled exception, but the application (Word) does not unexpectedly close.

If an add-in has been ’soft-disabled’ by Word 2007, it will NOT appear in the Disabled Application Add-ins list. It can be enabled by selecting “COM Add-Ins” in the Manage menu, clicking Go, and placing a check in the box next to the Add-In.

When you re-enable a soft-disabled add-in, Word immediately attempts to load the add-in. If the problem that initially caused Word to soft-disable the add-in has not been fixed, it will soft-disable the add-in again, and the box will not stay checked.

When an add-in has been soft-disabled, the LoadBehavior value in the registry will be changed. It seems that this value can exist in either of two locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\

A LoadBehavior of 2 = unloaded (this corresponds to an unchecked box)
A LoadBehavior of 3 = loaded (this corresponds to a checked box)

Restoring disabled add-ins programmatically

Hard-disabled add-ins can be released from quarantine, leaving them simply soft-disabled, by creating and running the following registry merge file to delete the Resiliency key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency]

By enabling the add-ins you wish to always load, exporting the Word\Addins keys to capture the correct LoadBehavior, and adding them to the end of the above merge file, you’ll be able to restore Word to a working state with a single click.

Forcing add-ins to be disabled by Word

You can cause add-ins to be disabled by forcibly ending the winword.exe process as Word opens. It might require crashing Word a few times, but eventually you’ll get an error:

Microsoft Office Word
Word experienced a serious problem with the ‘[add-in name]‘ add-in. If you have seen this message multiple times, you should disable this add-in and check to see if an update is available.
Do you want to disable this add-in?
[Yes] [No]

If you click Yes, the add-in will be hard-disabled and an entry will be created in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Resiliency\DisabledItems

I’ve used this method on a number of occasions to test whether my registry file is repairing Word as expected.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/26/fixing-word-2007-add-in-issues/feed/ 0 My favorite themeforest.net WordPress templates http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/21/my-favorite-themeforest-net-wordpress-templates/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/21/my-favorite-themeforest-net-wordpress-templates/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:20:56 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=483 I’ve been collecting links to good WordPress templates for a long time. Because I’ve been asked a few times recently if I can recommend some templates, I’m putting them together here.

Huge, isolated, animated slideshow

I really like these themes for focusing almost exclusively on one’s portfolio. They feature a massive, animated slideshow that keeps the visitor’s attention on the images. In some cases, a shadow underneath the slideshow, combined with the animation, creates a 3-D effect to put the portfolio right in the visitor’s face.

Confined slideshow

These themes are a bit more modest than the first collection. They still accentuate a portfolio of images, but in a less flashy way. The slideshow exists within a defined banner area, so the look is a little more traditional. These templates would be a better fit for businesses.

Partial-banner image rotation

These themes use only part of the banner to display a rotating group of images, leaving an area for text next to the images. This allows a short message or tagline to get equal placement. These are the most conservative themes.

Creative themes

This last group of themes break with the conventions of the above themes and use full-screen-width or otherwise larger-than-normal images that rotate behind the other elements of the site. Undeniably attention-grabbing, but also slower to load.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/21/my-favorite-themeforest-net-wordpress-templates/feed/ 0 Fixed: iPod touch 2G unbootable with a blank display http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/14/bricked-ipod-touch/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/14/bricked-ipod-touch/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:02:59 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=474 I was handed what appeared to be a truly bricked iPod touch 2G the other day. The screen remained blank and the device would not power on with any combination of buttons. Most of the troubleshooting steps I could find online assumed that the device was able to display something – a low battery or an Apple logo. The general consensus was that most iPods displaying some sort of boot problem could be fixed by holding down the Sleep/Wake key and the Home button, as described on the iPod touch: Basic Troubleshooting page. I tried all of the recommended steps, but still the device did nothing – it showed zero signs of life. I couldn’t be sure it was charging while connected to my computer, or that the battery was still good. The one positive thing was that the headphone-jack Liquid Contact Indicator was not activated, although I couldn’t rule out some sort of physical damage.

Connecting it to a Windows computer caused a “USB Device Not Recognized” balloon to pop up. A look in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) showed an “Unknown Device” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers.

While it was connected to the computer, I was able to invoke the “USB Device Not Recognized” balloon by holding the Sleep and Home buttons down for a few seconds, which didn’t give me much cause for hope, other than those buttons seemed to be working. This is as much life as the device exhibited.

Holding down the Sleep/Wake and/or Home buttons and then connecting the USB cable did nothing new.

I read somewhere that the “Apple Mobile Device Service” needs to be running for the connection to be established, so I opened the Services snap-in (services.msc) and started the “Apple Mobile Device Service”. I reconnected the device, but no joy.

More reading turned up that the iPod should show up in Device Manager as “Apple Mobile Device USB Driver” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers, so I also manually updated the Unknown Device to use the Apple Mobile Device USB driver, following the instructions at iPhone or iPod is not recognized properly by computer when USB drivers are not installed properly or are out of date.

This was only partially successful, as the Unknown Device was now labeled Apple Mobile Device USB Driver, but with an exclamation point next to it, indicating that the device was not functioning. The driver wasn’t able to fully install because “the device failed to start”. As a side note, there are a few other interesting possible drivers that can be selected, and I tried them all, but none of them installed successfully.

Things were looking pretty bleak. But I had fixed a USB drive that was unusable, unformattable, and reporting 0 bytes capacity a few months ago by running a reformat/reimage application, so I felt I had one last resort.

Turning the corner

I finally found a thread describing a situation like mine that didn’t (a) peter out unresolved, (b) conclude with a fix using steps I’d already tried, or (c) end in a product return/visit to the Apple Store. One poster claimed that the jailbreak software redsn0w was able to restore the iPod even when Windows wouldn’t recognize it. I was already headed down the jailbreak route, and was considering Pwnage.

While I was downloading the 3.1.2 firmware, I started scanning the instructions at http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com/2009/06/20/tutorial-iphone-30-unlock-redsn0w/

One of the steps was to connect the iPod while it was turned off (which I couldn’t be sure of). Then hold down the Sleep/Wake button for 2 seconds. Without releasing the Sleep/Wake button, also hold down the Home button for 10 seconds. Then, without releasing the Home button, release the Sleep/Wake button but keep holding the Home button for 30 seconds.

Without much hope, I just jumped ahead and followed those instructions. For some reason, by the time I had counted to 10, Windows had detected a USB device, but this time it successfully installed the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver. I held down the Home button for about 40 seconds and then released it, but nothing else happened.

Another look in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) showed an “Apple Mobile Device USB Driver” in the Universal Serial Bus controllers, but this time without an exclamation point. This was progress.

As the firmware was still downloading, I walked away for about 30 minutes, and when I came back, an iTunes window had popped up (though I can’t remember if iTunes was already running at the time):

iTunes
iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode. You must restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes.
[OK]

Bingo! iTunes was now displaying ‘iPod’ under Devices on the left side. In the Summary tab, it showed an iPod touch with Capacity: n/a, Software Version: n/a, and Serial Number: n/a. Under Version, it read:

Your iPod software is up to date. iTunes will automatically check for an update again on 2/19/2010.
If you are experiencing problems with your iPod, you can restore its original settings by clicking Restore.

So I did.

I agreed to all of the legalese and the software update began. About 20 minutes later, the iPod’s screen lit up and an iPod window opened on the computer, which read “Preparing iPod for restore…”. The iPod then displayed the Apple logo. A few more device driver balloons appeared.

A few minutes later, and I was left with a fully functional and factory-default iPod touch 2G.

Epilogue

With new-found confidence in my ability to resurrect an apparently hopelessly broken iPod, I checked eBay for other likely candidates, but found that most of the broken iPods for sale have had their liquid submersion indicators tripped. Even these have a number of bids, and the ones that seem to be in better condition aren’t that much cheaper than working ones.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/14/bricked-ipod-touch/feed/ 0 How to create a bootable USB drive that can install any version of Windows 7 http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/13/bootable-windows-7-usb-drive/ http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/13/bootable-windows-7-usb-drive/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:40:49 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=466 This article explains how to obtain leaked, legitimate ISOs of Windows 7 (x86 and x64), and create a bootable USB drive that can install any version (though only Home Premium through Ultimate are recommended). It wraps up with a neat trick to extend the 30-day pre-activation ‘evaluation period’ to 120 days. This article assumes that you intend to purchase your software eventually. It does not tell you how to obtain a product activation key or circumvent activation.

Step 1: Get the RTM Windows 7 release

Windows 7 RTM is build version 6.1.7600.16385. This version was released to Microsoft TechNet and MSDN subscribers in the summer of 2009 and quickly made its way onto BitTorrent.

64-bit (x64) Windows 7 Ultimate RTM English Retail DVD ISO Image

http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5021075/7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU.5021075.TPB.torrent

File Name: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.iso
Size: 3224686592 bytes
CRC: 1F1257CA
MD5: F43D22E4FB07BF617D573ACD8785C028
SHA-1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7

32-bit (x86) Windows 7 Ultimate RTM English Retail DVD ISO Image

http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5021073/7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU.5021073.TPB.torrent

File Name: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
Size: 2501894144 bytes
CRC: C1C20F76
MD5: D0B8B407E8A3D4B75EE9C10147266B89
SHA-1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610

Below are the official SHA1 hashes of these releases copied and pasted from technet.microsoft.com. I’ve checked them against the actual files from the torrents and they match.

64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate
File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_x64_dvd_x15-65922.iso
Date Published (UTC): 8/6/2009 9:59:56 AM Last Updated (UTC): 8/24/2009 8:59:33 AM
SHA1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7 ISO/CRC: 1F1257CA

32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate
File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_x86_dvd_x15-65921.iso
Date Published (UTC): 8/6/2009 9:59:56 AM Last Updated (UTC): 8/24/2009 8:59:33 AM
SHA1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610 ISO/CRC: C1C20F76

More links to torrents of build version 6.1.7600.16385 can be found at My Digital Life.

As a general rule, don’t download just any torrent that you come across, and do use a hash calculator (like HashCalc) to verify that the hash of the file you’ve downloaded matches that posted by a trusted source. Download the file, calculate the hash, copy it, find a trustworthy web site that displays the hash, and then do a Find on that page for the hash you’ve copied. If the hash you calculated matches the trusted one, you can trust the file is legit.

Step 2: Prepare the USB drive

You’ll need a 4 GB flash drive to hold the installation files. Microsoft offers a neat little program that will extract the ISO to a USB drive and make it bootable. It can also burn the ISO to a DVD. Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

If you’re currently using a 32-bit version of Windows and want to create a bootable USB drive containing the 64-bit (x64) version of Windows 7, you’ll need to obtain the bootsect.exe file from the 32-bit (x86) version of Windows 7.

If you want to get this file yourself, first download the 32-bit ISO. You can use any number of applications to open the ISO, but I recommend 7-Zip because it’s a great free alternative to WinZip. Open the ISO and then copy the /boot/bootsect.exe file into the same folder as the Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool.exe (e.g. %USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Apps\Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool).

If that’s too much work, you can Google 32-Bit Windows 7 Bootsect.exe and take your chances.

Run the tool (%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Apps\Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool\Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool.exe) and follow the prompts. After Windows 7 has been loaded on the USB drive, you will be able to boot from it and install Windows 7 Ultimate. (You may have to change the boot order in the BIOS to boot from USB Storage Device.)

Step 3: Configure the installer

What if you want to install something other than Ultimate?

Both the 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs contain all the different versions of Windows. The version you actually install is determined by a tiny text file named ei.cfg in the /sources/ directory of the install media. If you want to install a different version of Windows, you just need to browse the USB drive and open the /sources/ directory. Open the ei.cfg file in Notepad and change the EditionID to whatever version you wish to install. The contents of the file will look like this:


[EditionID]
Ultimate
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

The options for the EditionID are:

Starter
HomeBasic
HomePremium
Professional
Ultimate

In the alternative, if you delete ei.cfg, you’ll be asked to choose which version of Windows to install during the installation process, which is probably much more useful.

For more information and links to some software that will modify the ISO for you, see How to Select Any Edition or Version (SKU) of Windows 7 to Install From Single Edition DVD Disc Media or ISO.

I would strongly recommend installing the version that you intend to purchase, as you cannot enter a Home Premium product activation key on a system running Ultimate. You’d have to do a clean install of the version that matches the key you bought.

Step 4: Extend your pre-activation trial for 120 days

Microsoft allows anyone to install and use any version of Windows 7 for 30 days without having to enter a product activation key. This 30-day trial period can be extended three times for a total of 120 days before the installation must be activated to continue functioning. This extension is done using a Microsoft utility called the Software License Manager (slmgr) that ships with Windows.

If you haven’t entered a product activation key, you can click Start, then right-click Computer and choose Properties to see how many days are left before activation is required. When that number approaches 0, click Start | All Programs | Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator. Enter your administrator password, if asked.

Type the following command and press Enter:

slmgr -rearm

Be sure to include the space after slmgr and the hyphen in front of rearm.

Restart Windows 7.

In Summary

The last days of Windows 7 RC are approaching, and I’m probably going to end up buying Home Premium. Professional would be my first choice, but it’s probably not really necessary. However, after using Ultimate for so long, I want to know that I’ll be able to get by with a reduced feature set, so I definitely want to test-drive Professional and then Home Premium before I buy.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2010/02/13/bootable-windows-7-usb-drive/feed/ 1 Fixed: No new pictures or videos were found on this device http://www.ardamis.com/2009/12/09/fixed-no-new-pictures-or-videos-were-found-on-this-device/ http://www.ardamis.com/2009/12/09/fixed-no-new-pictures-or-videos-were-found-on-this-device/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:03:26 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=439 I’m using Windows 7, trying to transfer photos from my digital camera to my laptop for the second time, but the Import Pictures and Videos wizard won’t let me. After I connect my camera and choose ‘Import pictures and videos’ from the AutoPlay dialog box, I get a message from the Import Pictures and Videos wizard that ‘No new pictures or videos were found on this device’.

Although it would have been simple to just treat the camera as a mass storage device and browse the files in Explorer, I wanted to use the wizard to create a folder for each date. Why can’t we have a button to import the same images again and again, as many times as we want?

Disconnecting and reconnecting the device didn’t help, and deleting the files and containing folder from my computer didn’t do it, either. Obviously, something was keeping track of which images were being transfered. So I started digging around and found this interesting file in my user folder:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Photo Acquisition\PreviouslyAcquired.db

I renamed it to PreviouslyAcquired.db.old, then reconnected the camera and went through the wizard and lo, I was able to import the pictures a second time.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2009/12/09/fixed-no-new-pictures-or-videos-were-found-on-this-device/feed/ 1 Citrix XenApp Web Plugins http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/26/citrix-xenapp-web-plugins/ http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/26/citrix-xenapp-web-plugins/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:25:41 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=410 I thought it would be handy to have some direct downloads to the Citrix XenApp web client software for Windows, particularly as the Citrix people can’t settle on a name for their product and the web site changes every 15 minutes.

Citrix Online Plug-in – Version 11.2
Release Date: 9/29/2009
Windows 7, XP, Vista, 2003, & 2008
11 MB
Download CitrixOnlinePluginWeb11.2.exe from ardamis.com

XenApp Plugin (Client) – Version 11.0.150
Release Date: 11/11/2009
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 2003, & 2008
4.9 MB
Download XenAppWebPlugin11.0.150.exe from ardamis.com


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/26/citrix-xenapp-web-plugins/feed/ 0 Help Desk – XP and Office 2007 http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/25/help-desk-xp-and-office-2007/ http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/25/help-desk-xp-and-office-2007/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:09:56 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=414 A repository for troubleshooting responses to some common Windows XP, Office 2007 Help Desk calls.

Windows XP

Word 2007

How to re-enable a 'hard-disabled' add-in

Click the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I).
Click the Add-Ins tab and scroll to the bottom of the Add-ins list. Note the name of the disabled add-in.
Select Disabled Items from the Manage menu and click Go.
Click the item you wish to re-enable, and click Enable. Click Close.

How to reload a 'soft-disabled' add-in

Click the Office Button, then click Word Options (Alt+F, I).
Select COM Add-ins from the Manage menu and click Go.
Place a check in the box next to each add-in you wish to reload and then click OK.

The functionality should be available immediately.

How to turn off Track Changes notification

Click on the Office Button -> Word Options (Alt+F, I)
Click on the Trust Center along the left pane
Click on the Trust Center Settings button
Click on Privacy Options along the left pane
Under the "Document specific settings" area, uncheck the first option, "Warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments".

How to accept Track Changes

Click the Review tab, and in the Changes group, click Accept -> Accept All Changes in Document.

To repeat a table row on each page

Put the cursor in a cell in the row to become a header row and under the VP Table Tools tab, Data group, click Repeat Header Rows. You can also right-click in the table cell and choose Table Properties -> Row tab, and place a checkmark next to "Repeat as header row at the top of each page".

To toggle table gridlines

Click in the table, and under the VP Table Tools tab, Table group, click View Gridlines.

How to sort tables in Word

Put the cursor anywhere in the table, then click the Table Tools context tab. Click the Sort button in the Data group to open the Sort dialog box. Pick which column to sort on and the desired order.

How to make Word display more information about your document

Word can display useful information about your document in the status bar (at the bottom of the application). Right-click an empty area of the status bar and choose what information you wish to display.

How to sum a column in a Word table

Place the cursor in the table cell that will hold the sum, then click the Table Tools context tab. Click the Formula button in the Data group to open the Formula dialog box.

In the Formula field, type: =SUM(ABOVE)

Click OK.

Excel 2007

How to copy just the data (not the formulas) to a new sheet while retaining the formatting

This is a two step process.
If you copy everything, then do a Paste Special and choose Data, you lose the formatting.
If you copy everything, then do a Paste Special and choose Formulas, you keep the formatting, but also get the formulas.
The solution is to first to copy the formulas and formating, then convert the formulas to data.
Select all, then copy and paste into the new sheet. Then select everything again and Paste Special -> Values.

How to add leading zeros to a column of zip codes

Select all of the cells in the column, right-click any cell and select Format Cells. Under the Number tab, choose Special, and a Type area will appear. Choose Zip Code as the number type and click OK.

Choosing what to print

Select the fields that contain data you want to print by clicking the bottom-right cell and dragging the selection to the top-left cell and then selecting Page Layout -> Print Area -> Set Print Area.

Choosing how many pages to print (this determines the size of the text)

Once your print area has been set, click on View -> Page Break Preview. To move the page breaks, drag the dashed lines. To create a new break, right-click anywhere in the spreadsheet and select Insert Page Break from the pop up menu.

How to clear all page breaks

There are two ways to clear all of the page breaks in an Excel document:
1. click on Page Layout -> Breaks -> Reset All Page Breaks, or
2. right-click anywhere in the spreadsheet and select Reset All Page Breaks from the pop up menu.

PowerPoint 2007

MacPac 10

Opening Word or clicking on the MacPac10 tab produces an error

MacPac
Error: SessionException
Description: Could not initialize the session.

The details of the error message contain text referencing errors connecting to databases.

The fix is to close Word, delete the file:
C:\Program Files\The Sackett Group\MacPac\Data\mp10Sync.mdb

Open Regedit and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\The Sackett Group\Deca\Sync\
and change the Executing value to 0

Reopen Word.

How up update a trailer in XP/2007

Click on the MacPac 10 tab, then click on the Trailer/Doc ID button in the Document group. Choose a location for the trailer from the options and click OK.

DM

How to check-in documents in DM

Reboot and get the Undocked Documents prompt, then proceed through the prompts.

-or-

Close Word and DM, and any other applications with DM integration, then kill two processes:

DM.exe
Interceptor.exe

Reopen DM from the desktop shortcut to get the Undocked Documents prompt and proceed through the prompts.

-or-

Close Word, right-click the HummingBird DM systray icon and choose Log Off. (... unfinished steps ...)

How to email just a redline attached to a DM document, without a clean version.

Open DM, locate the document, right-click it and select Mail.
In the "Document Mailing Options" window, choose "Select" in the "Versions" drop down menu. The window will expand.
(Note that the Versions tab is active and one of the document's versions has a grey highlight.)
Click the Attachments tab and click the attachment you wish to mail.
Click on the Versions tab. You should see one of the versions is now highlighted with a blue background. Click in the area below the last version. The highlighted version should be deselected.
Click OK to create the email with just the attachment.

GroupWise 7

GroupWise opens and displays a message that a newer version exists

There is new GroupWise software available, however, you cannot currently access the new software to update. Please contact your administrator.
Do you want to continue to receive this update message?

Click No to stop seeing this message. If the message continues to occur each time GW is opened, increment the value of:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\GroupWise\Client\5.0]
"NewSoftwareBump"="1"

How to use the "Save to Hummingbird DM" button in GroupWise

Open the mail message, click the button, in the "Save to Hummingbird DM" window:
1. uncheck the box next to the envelope
2. in the Attachments drop down menu, choose "Save using specific options"
3. check "Save attachments separately" and click OK.

Place a check next to only the attachments that you want to save.
Click OK and complete the profile for each document.
Click Save.
You may need to hit F5 to refresh DM if the documents do not appear.

How do I edit the HTML signature using an external editor?

There is no way to directly edit the HTML code of the signature in GroupWise 7 or to paste source code into the WYSIWYG editor window, but you can still use an external editor (Dreamweaver, Notepad, etc.) to create the signature.

First, create the signature in the external editor and save it as an .html file. Open the file in a browser, so that the HTML is rendered and displays as it should in the email. Then select and copy the rendered HTML and paste it into the signature window in GroupWise.

(The Vedder Price blue is Pantone 8203 C, close to RGB 57,115,145.)

How to disable the splash screen in GroupWise Notify

Opening Notify sometimes causes the splash screen to stick. Ending the notify.exe process removes the splash screen. A more permanent fix is to not display the splash screen at all.

Edit any GroupWise Notify shortcuts to add a /bl switch, e.g.: C:\Novell\GroupWise\notify.exe /bl

How to change the default font size for received HTML messages

In GroupWise 7.x, the default font for printed HTML emails (incoming) is controlled by the "Message Box" font in Windows. The Message Box font can by changed by going to Display Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced -> Item: Message Box. (Tahoma 8 is the default for XP, but Tahoma 10 is a better choice here.)

How to print an HTML email without the [User] - [Subject] header

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then right-click in the message body area and select Print.
Email prints without the [User] - [Subject] header.

There are many methods for printing emails. Below are some methods and the results.

Open an HTML email and click File -> Print.
Email prints with the [User] - [Subject] header.

Open an HTML email and click the Print toolbar button.
Email prints with the [User] - [Subject] header.

Open an HTML email, right-click in the message body and select Print.
Email prints without the [User] - [Subject] header (but also prints without the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines).

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select Print.
Email prints with the [User] - [Subject] header.

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then click File -> Print.
Email prints with the [User] - [Subject] header (but also prints the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines twice).

Right-click an HTML email in a folder and select View, then click the Print toolbar button.
Email prints with the [User] - [Subject] header (but also prints the From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachments lines twice).

How to print an HTML email received as an attachment without the [User] - [Subject] header

Open the containing email. Right-click any attachment and select print. Highlight the Embedded Msg(s) that correspond to the attached email(s) you wish to print. (Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple, non-contiguous items.)

Firefox

Firefox fails to open with an error message

Close Firefox
Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.

A look at the processes shows no firefox.exe process running. Restarting the system does not resolve the issue.

There is a 'profiles.ini' file in
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

That file contains a line that points to a subfolder in
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

The subfolder will be named something like 'fi1dzouf.default'. If this *.default folder is missing or if the path is incorrect, the error is generated.

To resolve, delete the *.default folder (if it exists) and profiles.ini file from
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

This will reset Firefox to factory default.

(If the user has a roaming profile, it may be possible to retrieve a backup of the *.default folder and profiles.ini from the H: drive. Restoring these backed-up files will preserve any customizations and add-ins.)

Internet Explorer 7

How to clear the remembered form data

The automatically remembered form data can be cleared by clicking Tools -> Internet Options -> Content tab. In the Autocomplete area, click Settings. Choose what to delete and then click OK.

Novell

Adobe Reader 9

How to print comments in Adobe Reader

Click File -> Print, and in the "Comments and Forms" drop down, choose "Document and Markup".

How to print only the top 8.5 x 11 inches of a 8.5 x 14 inch PDF in Adobe Reader

Click File -> Print, and under the Page Handling area, select Page Scaling: None, and uncheck Auto-Rotate and Center.

The preview should have the top portion of the document highlighted.

Winzip

Paint

Citrix

SSL error 61 (the server certificate received is not trusted)

Run Windows Updates and update the root certificates.

SSL error 68 (the SSL certificate is not yet valid)

Set the local system clock to the current date and time.

SSL error 70 (the SSL certificate is no longer valid)

Set the local system clock to the current date and time.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/25/help-desk-xp-and-office-2007/feed/ 0 Windows 7 time off when dual booting Fedora Linux http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/24/windows-time-off-when-dual-booting-linux/ http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/24/windows-time-off-when-dual-booting-linux/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:22:01 +0000 ardamis http://www.ardamis.com/?p=408 I’m dual booting Linux (Fedora 11 with Gnome) and Windows 7. If I set the time in Windows, then boot into Linux, the time remains correct. When I boot back into Windows, the time is off by a few hours. After some reading, it seems that Linux is using UTC time and Windows is using local time.

This issue can be fixed by changing either OS, but because the problem seems to be with Windows mishandling UTC time, I chose to correct it there by turning on a feature called RealTimeIsUniversal. When RealTimeIsUniversal is enabled, Windows will treat the Real-Time Clock (RTC) from the motherboard as UTC time.

Open Regedit, drill down to:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation
and create a new DWORD entry named “RealTimeIsUniversal”. Set the value to 1.

Shut down Windows and boot Fedora. Set the correct time in Fedora, shutdown, and boot back into Windows. The time should be accurate if you have set your local time to the correct time zone.

It seems that there are problems with Windows XP and Vista whereby Sleep/Hibernate would cause Windows to revert to local time upon waking/resuming, but apparently this has been resolved in Windows 7.

If you prefer to change Fedora, go to Date/Time Properties via System > Administration > Date & Time or by opening a terminal and entering:

system-config-time

Under the Time Zone tab, clear the checkbox next to “System clock uses UTC”.

Under the Network Time Protocol tab, select Enable Network Time Protocol.

Note that your BIOS has no idea what timezone you are in, that’s up to the OS to figure out. If you check the time in the BIOS, it will likely be a few hours off, and that’s OK.


]]> http://www.ardamis.com/2009/11/24/windows-time-off-when-dual-booting-linux/feed/ 0