The window would say something like: sqldumper library failed initialization.

Its an inconvenience, and the customer wanted it removed.

I looked at various startup programs, but I couldn’t find anything obvious.

But after some research, I found an elegant solution:

Disable the SQL server service

ie:

Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative tools -> Services

or

Start -> run -> services.msc

go to the SQL server entry and change it from automatic to manual (or even disabled)

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In this case, the customer has only 1 laptop linked to this printer.

The laptop failed (under warranty), and was replaced with a different model.

Customer manages to install the HP scanner software on the new laptop, but cannot make use of the existing profiles on the scanner (I had previously setup 2 profiles called “colour” and “Black White”).

Since the printer does a lot of its work from its front panel, I decide to navigate around, and delete (or maybe rename) some profiles, to suit the new situation.

Except I can’t.

Scan profiles cannot be deleted or renamed from the scanner.

I then try the PC software, but it also won’t let me rename the existing profiles.

By this stage, I’m also on the phone to HP tech support.

And I’m shocked by what I’m told: you cannot rename or modify profiles: you must delete profiles, and then re-create them.

How quaint

So, I manually write down the parameters in the colour and “black white” profiles, so that I can re-create them on the new laptop… Grrr

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So, as well as removing the infection, I also need to do a repair install of Windows.

But after all that, clicking on any google results (using Firefox) brings up a Firefox “reported attack site”… looking at the url, it seems I get redirected to c.ppcxml.net … regardless of which link I click on.

I quickly find the solution:

Use windows explorer to navigate to something like:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions\{CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0017-ABCDEFFEDCBA}\chrome\content\ffjcext

Note that there might be more than 1 folder that starts with “{CAFEEFAC-”… you might need to look at all of them.

I ended up renaming any file that ends in .XUL (I changed the extension from .XUL to .LUX).

You might need to try a few combinations, as its a fairly important file for Firefox.

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This time, I had just installed CC3, then patched it with the latest release.

Everything seemed OK until I tried the scan to email feature.

It tried to start Outlook Express (while Microsoft Outlook was the main email application).

I quickly found that OE was the default windows email application, so I made Microsoft outlook the default email app…

But CC3 continued to try opening OE.

I figured: maybe CC3 took OE as the default printer when it was installed, so if I re-install CC3, then it will take MS Outlook as the default printer.

So I uninstall CC3, then re-install it (and re-patch it), but it still keeps opening OE!

OK, google is my friend, so a quick search later, I find the solution:

I open CC3 and go to Configuration ->Scan->Email.

I then configure the software and device buttons to use Microsoft Outlook as the default mail for scan to email.

At this point, the obvious question is: why doesn’t Brothers CC3 use windows default email program, and save users all the headache?

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After having completed the whole process, I eventually realised that google sorts names differently from most people:

Names are assumed to be First/Given name first, then middle name(s), then Last/Surname.

Unfortunately, I only realised this after I had everything sorted…

So my list has names like: Blogs, Joe

But on my WM6.1 smart phone, it results in names Joe, Blogs,

Note the extra comma.

While my Nokia 6220 Classic has names like: Blogs, Joe (but when you look at the contact details, it breaks it down into:

Last Name: Joe

First Name: Blogs,

But there is some good news (for me at least): it actually doesn’t matter much.

A search for something like “joe” or “blogs” on either WM6, Nokia, or Google Contacts, will result in the correct entry being found.

Maybe one day, Google will add the ability to intelligently specify how the name field is to be split.

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However, I stumbled across this announcement from the ATO (Australian Tax Office): e-Record

When I started Computer Aid, nearly 5 years ago, e-Record was almost the only free package available, but it didn’t suit my plans for the business, so I didn’t use it.

So why am I talking about it?

Well, after having worked on many hundreds of computers over the last 5 years, I’ve noticed that many people use e-Record.

In fact, I’d say that for every installation of commercial software like MYOB and QuickBooks, there is probably 5 to 10 installations of e-Record.

To me, that indicates that e-Record is a lot more popular than the ATO wants to admit. However, the ATO is withdrawing e-Record because “it’s no longer compatible with current commercial record-keeping systems”… and will need to be re-developed.

To me, it seems like they are saying: “we can’t import and/or export to other accounting software, and we can’t afford any further development of e-Record, so we will just drop it”.

In the future, it seems the only options available to people who are using e-Record, it to buy a commercial package.

There must be way to bridge the gap between the manual “pencil and paper” form of accounting, and the fully commercial accounting done by larger companies.

I’m now wondering: Does this mean people will just keep using the last (outdated) e-Record? Or will they go back to manual pen-and-paper accounting? Or does this mean MyYob and Quackbooks will get a sudden surge in the money flowing into their coffers?

Only time will tell…

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